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Quick Start Your Garden - Presoak Your Seeds!

Gardeners are full of patience. Well, usually we are, but seed starting can really be a trial. We can gonuts waiting for our newly planted seeds to germinate and sprout. We all do it, we plant our seeds inthe garden or pots and spend the next week checking to see if there are any signs of life. Well youcan make your seeds sprout more quickly and give your garden plants a healthy head-start. How?Simple, presoak your seeds. Let me show you how...Its very simple to presoak larger seeds. Take any seeds that are large enough to handle easily andplace the number needed for your growing project in a small clean container. A little bowl, a plasticcontainer - its up to you. Cover the seeds with lukewarm water and place them in a warm spot, ontop of the refrigerator or water heater, some warm place in your home. Not hot, just warm and draftfree. Now leave the seeds there to soak overnight. That's all there is to it. Drain the water off, a wiremesh strainer works well and then you are ready to plant your seeds. However, do not let the seedsdry out, you must plant them as soon as you take them out of the water.Presoaked seeds will usually sprout several days earlier than seeds that were planted directly in thegarden. Why? Simple, the first step in the seed sprouting process is the absorption of moisture.Nothing happens until the seed is sufficiently water logged. The seed starting process happens morerapidly in a container of lukewarm water than in the cooler soil outside, where this first step in seedgermination can take several days.

What about smaller seeds, can they be presoaked?

Yes, its a little more complicated, but not much. Small seed can be difficult to handle at the best oftimes, but this technique compensates for their small size and actually makes it easier to plant themin the garden than trying to sow them by hand or right out of the seed packet.You won't need a container for this method. Instead, you will need coffee filters (basket style worksbest for me) small zip-lock style bags and a spray bottle or mister. If at all possible buy the coffeefilters that say they are environmentally friendly. First wet the filter with lukewarm water. You canrinse it under the tap or use your spray bottle. Now lay the wet filter out on a flat clean surface andsprinkle some of the seeds on one half. Next, fold the filter in half over the seeds:

Now fold the ﬁlter in half twice more:

You are now ready to place the folded filter and seeds into a small zip-lock bag, spray with a littlemore lukewarm water, gently squeeze out as much air as you can and seal the bag. Place the bag ina warm draft free place overnight to allow the seeds to soak.To plant these seeds, carefully remove the folded filter from the bag, gently unfold the filter twice -the seeds will be between the layers of the half folded filter. Now cut small pieces of the folded filter,with small amounts of the seeds in between and plant them as usual, filter and all.