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seeds Should you soak the seeds?

F

FiyaEater

This my first post on THP. Today I'll start some seeds (of course after the palyoff games). I've noticed that some people are soaking their seeds before sowing. I was why and if it was necessary to pre-soak before sowing and if so for how long do you soak?
 
I think it is the 1/2 full, 1/2 empty scenario. I started soaking mine a few years ago only to follow the directions for certain species. I have had great success by soaking and not soaking. For this growing season I have opted to soak everything in a warm water for several hours before sowing.

:welcome: and good luck
 
I've soaked, not soaked, and used a paper towel. All three have yielded similar results. I've had marginally better success rates using a damp paper towel, but I've found that the radicle (first root) can sometimes dig into the towel, and it's a risky operation to free them.

Some choose to soak in tap water, distilled water, hydrogen peroxide & water, potassium nitrate & water... and the list goes on. Do a bit of experimentation and see what works best for you! :dance:
 
First of all, welcome aboard!

I've had some pretty good luck with soaking my seeds first in distilled water with a splash of hydrogen peroxide, and I'd leave the container(s) overnight on top of a heating pad. But to each their own, and as has already been mentioned, several have had similar results, so if you feel up to it (and have sufficient seeds & patience), feel free and experiment a little to see which generates the best germination percentages for you.
 
I germinated 20 seeds that I got from fresh pods from cmpman1974 back in September and had a 100% germination rate. I did not soak them as they were fresh seeds. My understanding has been that if you have "older" seeds, you may want to soak them overnight to facilitate germination. My seeds were 7 Pot Yellow x Bhut Jolokia Carbon and I germinated them the last week of December, so they were about 3 months old. Like the folks above said, do some experimenting if you have spare seeds and see what works best for you. Even if not necessary, soaking can't hurt! :) ....Good luck in your growing!!!!
 
There are two different kinds of soaking to be aware of. The first, mentioned by elcap, is a soak in a mix of hydrogen peroxide and water in order to remove unseen "nasties" - mold, fungus, bacteria.... This kind of soaking doesn't need to be a long soak; 10 minutes is usually sufficient. Anyone who's started seeds just to check on them one day and find them covered in mold can tell you this is a good idea regardless of what you do next. There's no guarantee your seeds will get moldy if you don't do this, but why risk it?

The second type is a soak typically in plain water (or, for the uber-anxious, water and who knows what they add...) in order to soften the seed casing. THIS is the one you'll get the most variety of opinions on. I've found that most chile seeds don't really require a soaking - their seed casings soften up pretty quickly if they're just kept moist. However, I'm more prone to soaking more "stubborn" varieties, such as rocotos. Depending upon how many you choose to start, you might try an experiment and make up your own mind - soak some of your seeds, don't soak others, trying to do at least one each for each variety you'll be growing.
 
:welcome: to THP and Greetings from the Metrolina of North Carolina!
"The taste is followed by a vicious hot spicy bite"

If you decide to soak or not to soak -- be sure NOT to soak your seedlings by over watering.
Too much watering (and too little air circulation) can promote damping off ! A deadly mold fungus on your babies.
Search the grow archives for damping off, hydrogen peroxide, chamomile tea as pretreatments
with starting seeds.
 
Tried soaking but i find it not necessary at all...
If you deal with very hard seed cases or very old seeds consider scarification.

Good luck

Datil
 
Both methods work. It is important to keep your temp around 80 to 85 degrees and moist. If the temp and humidity are constant you should have no problem, soaked or unsoaked. I have had both sprout in as little as four days. The hydrogen proxcide to kill fungus is a good idea that I will try in the future.
 
As you can tell its really down to personal preference.
I myself always soak seeds from anywhere from 12 to 24hrs in chamomile tea (anti fungal and seed softener) in a warm spot.
I always use boiling water make the tea and allow this to cool to room temp before placing seeds in it.
 
Yep I soak my seeds as well. I also use 1 TBSP of Hydrogen Peroxide to 2 cups of water in my soak solution. I've had great success doing that.
 
It isn't [background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]necessary. A nice moist environment is good for germination though. The seeds are so thin that it's easy for water to soften them up.[/background]

compmodder26 said:
Yep I soak my seeds as well. I also use 1 TBSP of Hydrogen Peroxide to 2 cups of water in my soak solution. I've had great success doing that.
Click to expand...

I think that helps with pathogens, so that seems to be a good idea. I always worry I'll add too much and damage the seed, heh.
 
Well I didn't soak any seeds (I've only planted some jalapenos so far) before sowing I just threw them in the moistened soil on top of a warming pad. Less than 48 hours later I've got germination! Thanks all for the replies.
 
No need. The seed caps are very thin and water doesn't have a hard time getting in.

Edit:
Opps, I already replied here, lol
 
I have had great success soaking, but I think it has more to do with stable temps in my germinator than anything to do with moist dirt. Temperature and humidity are really the key factors. If you can stabilize those in soil the same as in a paper towel, I bet your results would be similar.
 
I soak my chinense but not my annuums. I have noticed a 3-5 day difference in germination times when soaking, but like others said it might be other environmental elements contributing to that. Either way my germination percentage has been fine soaking or not soaking.
 
i can tell you from my experience that soaking had the best return rate. I waited till they sank to the bottom then planted. put them on a heat mat of some sort. I also tried the Jiffy Pellets. They worked as well. I put some seeds without soaking them in a damp paper towel and i didnt have any luck, maybe one popped through.
 
Two years ago I did an experiment in a propagation class
I had three experiments of 38 seed each. One group was planted without soaking the seed, another was soaked for 45 minutes and the last was soaked 24 hours. The 24 hour soak was the first to germinate but only by a day. In the end, the seed soaked for 45 minutes yielded one more seedling than the no soak method and the seedling germination rate was more or less equal amongst all three.

My conclusion was that it wasn't worth the hassle to soak the seed. Scarification isn't required on Capsicums.

Mike
 
sudostahp said:
I've soaked, not soaked, and used a paper towel. All three have yielded similar results. I've had marginally better success rates using a damp paper towel, but I've found that the radicle (first root) can sometimes dig into the towel, and it's a risky operation to free them.
Click to expand...

Using a damp paper towel is a very good idea and works for me. The funny part is later when you need some skill to dig into towel to free up the liitle root.
I was wondering what about taking the root rounded by a little piece of paper towel and put together in soil in order to avoid damage to radicle ?
What you think?

 
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