Characteristics And Preparation Of Vegetable Seeds For Sowing

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Sorting, dressing, heating, soaking and stimulating growth, bubbling, pelleting, germination and vernalization of seeds

From a bad seed - do not expect a good tribe

The key to a high yield of vegetable plants is the high-quality preparation of their seeds for sowing. Most gardeners grow their main vegetable crops through seedlings, but often they have to resort to sowing individual vegetables with seeds in closed or open ground. In any case, the pre-sowing preparation of seeds must be approached very carefully, because it is known that "from a bad seed, do not expect a good tribe."

Most gardeners buy seeds for the season from seed shops that value their reputation and guarantee high quality goods. The same cannot be said about the sale of seeds by private sellers from hand. Often they purchase a large batch of seeds (sometimes expired), pack them themselves and, of course, cannot guarantee their quality.

"Branded" seeds are controlled by the State Seminar Inspection and, as a rule, comply with all GOST standards. On their packages there is often information indicating the sowing quality of the seeds. It is necessary to know that the seed material infected with viruses and bacteria is not passed through the state control and is not subject to certification.

× Gardener's handbook Plant nurseries Stores of goods for summer cottages Landscape design studios

The most important indicators of seed quality include germination energy, germination, viability, purity, sowing suitability, moisture.

Germination energy is the ability of seeds to germinate quickly and harmoniously.

Germination is defined as the ability of seeds to form normally developed seedlings; it is the ratio of normally germinated seeds (for a certain period of time under optimal conditions) to their total number taken for germination.

Viability is considered as the ability of seeds to germinate, which is determined by the number of living seeds (germinating and dormant). It is assessed in seeds that have not passed the dormant period, as well as with an urgent approximate determination of their quality.

Seed purity is characterized by the mass of seeds of the main crop

Every gardener, before purchasing new seeds for the season, needs to carefully review old stocks in order to remove and discard those that have expired. It is not worth sowing expired seeds, because you can be left without a crop. The expiration date of the seeds is usually printed on the bag in which you purchased them at the store. For sowing most vegetable crops (except for cucumber and other pumpkin seeds), fresh (last year's) seeds are preferable. Seeds of a group of pumpkin plants are best used after 2-3 years of storage.

Long before the start of the season, it is advisable for gardeners to draw up an approximate calendar for planting their seedlings in greenhouses, hotbeds or open ground so that it does not outgrow. It is important to take into account possible early and late spring frosts. It is worth recalling that sowing, for example, tomato seeds is started 40-45 days before planting seedlings in a permanent place, cucumber seeds - 30 days, celery - 80 days, pepper - 60 days.

These procedures should be tried to be carried out in a complex (in a combination of individual elements of this technological chain), since they are intended to strengthen the immune system and obtain earlier friendly strong plant shoots; they also allow them, in spite of unfavorable weather conditions, to go through all their development phases in a timely manner, having experienced minimal pressure from pests, diseases and weeds.

When sorting the available sowing material, it is better to separate the seeds, which are weak, incomplete, with suspicious spots on the surface, for safety reasons, so that later you do not regret wasted time and effort. It is possible to carry out the simplest rejection of shrunken seeds using a 3-5% solution of sodium chloride. So, the cucumber seeds that have emerged within 3-5 minutes of exposure are removed as unreliable, and the seeds that have sunk to the bottom (full-weight) are washed twice and dried.

If amateur vegetable growers exchange seeds with their colleagues or use their own seeds, decontamination of such material is imperative, since a lot of fungal and partially bacterial infections can be transmitted through the soil and be inside and on the surface of the seeds. With the seeds of cucumber, for example, infections of anthracnose and angular spot are transmitted, beets - peronosporosis and phomosis, cabbage - vascular bacteriosis, peronosporosis, phomosis, carrots - black rot, etc.

× Notice board Kittens for sale Puppies for sale Horses for sale

I think that it is still better to give preference to liquid plant protection products when etching. Of course, when soaking, the seeds must be kept in a solution of the drug for a certain time, then dried thoroughly (if this procedure is carried out well in advance, long before sowing) or slightly dried (wet seeds are difficult to sow).

Although the use of preparations in a dry state is somewhat easier, it allows, when shaking, for example, seeds in a bag with a fungicide, a uniform (thin layer) coating. However, this procedure in an apartment is too dangerous for health, since it does not guarantee complete safety. In addition, most of the drugs approved for retail trade usually do not work on internal infections of many diseases (especially viral and bacterial ones) or work very weakly.

An example of such a drug is potassium permanganate, which suppresses superficial mycotic infection quite well, in contrast to the causative agents of bacteriosis and viruses. For example, tomato seeds are kept in its 0.5% solution for 5-8 minutes (at 30 … 35 ° C). Treatment of seeds for 15 minutes with a solution of a mixture of preparations (1 g of KMnO7, 0.2 g of boric acid, 0.1 g of CuSO ₄ per liter of water) is also effective against phytopathogenic fungi.

Some gardeners use a solution of calendula or garlic to disinfect seeds.

In the first case, the seeds are placed for 25-30 minutes in an infusion of dried flowers (a teaspoon in a glass of boiling water, after straining, add up to 1 liter of chilled boiled water).

In the second, a mass of grated garlic clove is diluted in 200 ml of cold boiled water, the strained solution is brought to 1 liter and the seeds are kept in a gauze bag for 30-40 minutes.

For a number of years of scientific work, I have quite successfully used for the treatment of seeds of various types and varieties of cabbage an aqueous infusion of wood ash and leaf juice of the well-known aloe tree, which acts as a growth biostimulator and exhibits bactericidal properties. A water infusion of wood ash is also useful. Ash contains almost 30 nutrients, including trace elements important for the plant. The seeds are placed in a daily infusion (half a glass of ash per 1 liter) for 4-6 hours. And aloe juice is prepared as follows: they take four juicy aloe leaves, wash them thoroughly, dry them and keep them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator (13-15 days at 6 … 8 ° C or 5-7 days at 2 ° C) to liquefy the juice. In the squeezed juice, the seeds are incubated for 4-6 hours and, without washing, are spread on a damp filter paper or gauze for swelling. This treatment is carried out 3-4 days before sowing.

To accelerate the germination of seeds of a number of vegetable crops (onions, carrots), it is advisable to carry out preliminary soaking. The seeds are poured into a container with a small amount of water so that it covers them slightly. The water is changed every 4-6 hours. Seeds of onions, carrots, beets and dill are soaked for 2-3 days, and cucumber, zucchini, pumpkin, cabbage, tomato, pea, radish - 8-12 hours. You can increase the germination activity of seeds of beets, carrots, onions, parsley by soaking them for 12-18 hours in a solution of boric acid (0.2 g per 1 liter of water), as well as in snow (melt) or magnetized water. Strengthening this quality of vegetable seeds is promoted by heating them with the sun for 7-10 days.

To increase the yield of vegetables during pre-sowing soaking of seeds, aqueous solutions of epin (1-2 drops per 100 ml), 0.05-0.1% manganese sulfate, 0.001-0.005% copper sulfate, 0.03-0, 05% zinc sulfate, 0.005-0.05% boric acid, 0.05-0.1% ammonium molybdate, 0.5% bicarbonate soda or 0.01% nicotinic acid (withstand 24 hours at room temperature), they are able to activate the germination energy. Compounds in which humic acids, gibberellin and heteroauxin are involved have a great stimulating effect. Zircon also has a plant growth stimulating effect. They can soak vegetable seeds.

The results of scientists' research show that the seeds of many vegetable crops increase the germination energy and germination capacity if they are kept for some time (at least a week) at low negative temperatures (-2 … -4 ° C) before sowing. At the same time, even short-term heating of seeds (at temperatures not exceeding 40 ° C) reduces their infestation with pests and diseases.

Heat treatment of seeds (using hot water 50 ° C) of white cabbage for 25 minutes disinfects them (from infection of Alternaria, black leg and bacteriosis), tomato seeds in 20 minutes - from bacterial cancer and bacterial spot). The set temperature must be maintained during the entire heating period by adding hot water. After this treatment, the seed is kept in cold water for several minutes and dried. However, this effect with hot water somewhat reduces the germination of seeds, so the seeding rate is increased by 10-15%.

Good results are shown by bubbling seeds - soaking them in water saturated with air. For this purpose, the container is filled with water by 2/3, the tip from the aquarium compressor is lowered to the bottom. After filling the seeds, the compressor is turned on, periodically stirring the contents of the container. Sparging of pea seeds is continued for 4-6 hours, cabbage, radish and lettuce - 10-12, tomato, beet - 18-20, carrots, onions, spinach, parsley, celery, coriander and dill -18-24, pepper - 30 -36 hours. The effectiveness of this technique can be increased by using a solution of a mixture of 1 g of potassium nitrate and 1 g of potassium phosphate (per 100 ml of water). With a longer bubbling, the seeds also reduce their germination.

An interesting technique for simultaneously stimulating seed germination, combating surface, internal and even soil infections of diseases is seed pelleting. Recently, seed companies have been offering seeds already filled in pelleted capsules. They are obtained by a special coating of seeds with a uniform layer of fertilizers, fungicides (usually TMTD) and microelements in automatic installations - pelleting machines.

A 0.02% polyacrylamide solution (1:10 by weight) is used for wetting and gluing. Potash and nitrogen fertilizers and trace elements are added to the dragee shell. For 1 liter of adhesive solution take 40 mg of manganese sulfate, 10 mg of copper sulfate, 40 mg of boric acid, 300 mg of ammonium molybdate, 200 mg of zinc sulfate. Some companies include in the composition of the pelleted mass, in addition to fungicides, insecticides, others - select the most important microelements for each agricultural crop. Store-bought pelleted seeds, as a rule, are planted directly into the ground without soaking.

Although seed pelleting is quite troublesome, if desired, the gardener himself can prepare his seeds in this way. Dried and finely sifted lowland peat is taken as a filler. 1.5 g of powdered superphosphate is used per 100 g of peat. As an adhesive, a gelatin solution or an infusion of fresh mullein (1:10) filtered through a triple layer of gauze is used. Trace elements are added to the prepared mass in the same amount as indicated above. Then the seeds are placed in a glass three-liter jar, slightly moistened with a solution so that they do not lose flowability. Add dry dragee mixture in small portions, shaking the container in a circular motion, thus building up the shell on the seeds. The seeds obtained in this way are immediately sown or dried in a dark place and stored until sowing.

To obtain more friendly and strong shoots, the swollen seeds are hardened, keeping them for three days at - 1 … -3 ° С, and then for 1-1.5 days - at 18 … 20 ° С. Seeds of crops resistant to stalking (celery, parsley, carrots, onions per turnip), after soaking and the beginning of germination (no more than 5% of seeds), are subjected to partial vernalization. They are kept in a refrigerator, in snow or on ice at a temperature of -1 ° … 1 ° C (for example, celery seeds - 20-24 days, parsley - 18-22 days, carrots and onions 15-20 days).

Have a nice harvest!

Also read:

How to prepare seeds for sowing