Cucumbers are a fairly popular crop that many summer residents grow on their plots. To obtain good harvest, it is recommended to prepare the seed for planting in advance. That is why most vegetable growers soak cucumber seeds before planting.
Do I need to soak the seeds?
Some gardeners wonder whether it is necessary to soak cucumber seeds before planting them in the soil. It is definitely necessary, since this procedure allows you to improve the germination of planted seeds several times. Also, soaking improves the yield of cucumbers planted in a greenhouse.
Often, failure to pre-soak the seeds is the main reason why cucumber seeds do not germinate.
Calibration
Before you start germinating seeds, you should do some preparatory work.
Before planting in the ground, it is necessary to carry out calibration. This procedure is carried out in order to select for planting only the largest seeds, which contain the most nutritional components. First, all planting material should be selected according to its size. To do this, all the seeds are passed through a fine sieve to sift out the smallest seeds.
After this, you need to use a saline solution. To prepare it, add 20-40 grams of salt to a liter of water. The mixture is thoroughly mixed, after which selected cucumbers are added to it. If the seeds float within 10 minutes, then they must be disposed of, since the floated seeds are unsuitable for planting. All other seeds are quickly washed with water and dried.
How to soak cucumber seeds for disinfection
To ensure that the sprouted seedlings do not suffer from certain diseases in the future, it is necessary to disinfect the seed material. Quite often, a solution made from manganese is used for this. Before soaking cucumbers in potassium permanganate, you should familiarize yourself with how to do it correctly.
First, all the seeds are laid out on the surface of gauze or fabric material. After this, manganese is added to the boiling water so that the liquid turns a little pink. It is necessary to ensure that the mixture is not too concentrated, as this can spoil the seed.
When the solution has cooled to room temperature, all the cucumbers in gauze are placed in a container with liquid. Some people are interested in how much time should be allocated for soaking in potassium permanganate. 15-20 minutes will be enough for disinfection. After processing, all cucumbers are quickly removed from the container, washed and dried.
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Also, before planting in open ground, cucumbers of hybrid F1 varieties are soaked in hydrogen peroxide. To do this, the day before planting, all the grains are placed in a small gauze bag and dipped in a weak solution. They need to be soaked for 20-40 minutes. This time should be enough to clear the grains of bacteria. After this, every single grain is taken out of the bag and dried.
How to properly soak seeds in biologically active solutions
Many people are interested in whether it is possible to soak seeds in biologically active solutions before planting in open ground. It’s definitely possible, since they contribute better growth bushes when growing cucumbers.
- Epin. Epin contains a large number of nutritional components that contribute to better germination of cucumber seedlings. If you soak cucumbers in this liquid, they will become more resistant to diseases and weather conditions.
- Zircon. Some vegetable growers claim that vegetables should be soaked in Zircon before planting. This drug is made from chicoric acid, which accelerates the development of adult bushes and allows seeds to germinate quickly.
- Humate. This product contains humic acid and potassium salt, which accelerate seed germination by 2-3 times. To use the drug, simply pour it into a small container and place the seed in the liquid.
How to soak cucumber seeds using folk recipes
Sometimes vegetable growers refuse to use commercial soaking products. In such cases, it is recommended to find out in advance what else you can soak cucumber seeds in.
Aloe juice
To ensure the fastest germination of cucumbers, you can use aloe juice. This liquid contains a large number of immunostimulants, which not only improve plant growth, but also protect it from diseases.
Before preparing a solution with aloe, one lower leaf is cut off and wrapped in newspaper or a towel.
Then the cut leaf is placed in the refrigerator for a week and a half, after which you can start squeezing the juice. This must be done by hand, without using any metal tools. When all the juice has been squeezed out, it should be mixed in a one-to-one ratio with boiled water. The prepared mixture is poured into a small plate, after which the seeds can be placed in the tissue. During the procedure, it is better to move the container with soaked cucumbers to a warm room.
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Ash
Gardeners use ash solutions for soaking. The ash contains minerals that stimulate the growth of vegetables. Making your own ash solution is easy. Add 100 grams of straw or wood ash. The prepared liquid is infused for two days, after which it is used to process grains. Soaking lasts 5-8 hours.
Mushroom decoction
Lovers folk recipes Cucumber seeds are often soaked in mushroom broths. For its preparation it is used dried mushrooms, as they are rich in beneficial microelements that promote germination seed material. While preparing the decoction, add to the pan with dried mushrooms hot water. Cover the container with the mixture with a lid and leave until the water cools completely. Soak the seeds in mushroom broth for no longer than six hours. After finishing the processing, we plant the prepared cucumber seeds in the soil.
Potato juice
Funds from potato juice often used during the germination of vegetable grains before planting. To prepare a remedy from potato juice, 2-3 raw potatoes must be frozen in advance in the freezer. After two days they are taken out and completely thawed. After this, you can squeeze out all the juice from them. It is poured into a plate where the soaking will be carried out.
Vodka
Some summer residents prefer to soak seed material in vodka. It is not recommended to use an overly concentrated solution, so as not to damage the seeds.
To prepare the liquid, add 500 ml of vodka to a liter of water. The mixture should not infuse and therefore you can immediately place the seeds selected for cultivation into it. They should be soaked in the solution for no longer than 20 minutes. This time is enough for complete dissolution essential oils, which cover the seeds. After the procedure, it is recommended to rinse the seed several times and dry it thoroughly.
Conclusion
Almost all lovers of fresh vegetables grow cucumbers. It is no secret that it is necessary to prepare all planting material for sowing in advance. To do this, you need to familiarize yourself with the main methods of processing grains and determine how many days you should soak them.
Seeds that are very dry may take a very long time to hatch: they will absorb water more slowly and the seedlings will grow unevenly. Therefore, before planting, such seeds can, even need to be “awakened” by soaking.
Pre-sowing treatment of planting material often includes a procedure such as soaking. This method of seed treatment helps to awaken a small grain to its full potential and promotes the rapid germination of many vegetable crops, including cucumbers.
Sometimes the soaking procedure is neglected: if so, then they will germinate quite quickly without preliminary water procedures in a couple of days (at a temperature of +24–27C).
What definitely needs soaking are those that were exposed to high temperatures or they themselves contain little moisture because their storage conditions were violated.In some cases, soaking can even harm the seeds: if they have already been heated and treated with a disinfectant, the water will simply wash away the protective layer from the seeds.
It's good to have supplies
By the way, it is not necessary to buy cucumber seeds every year.
Oddly enough, a high percentage of germination is observed precisely in grains that are 2-3 years old. Just store them in a warm, dry place, wrapped in newspaper or cloth, until their final time.
Which have been waiting for a long time to emerge “into the light” (more precisely, into the soil), produce plants with abundant ovaries.
If, for a number of reasons, it was not possible to let the seeds sit for a year or two, then the annual cucumber seeds will have to be heated to a temperature of fifty degrees for 2 hours, being careful not to overheat them and not brew them.
It is best to use well-settled water for soaking. Ideal option is rain or melt water. Frozen is also used tap water, clean still from the store.
Before you start soaking planting material, it is necessary to sort it, warm it up, and disinfect it.
How many extra ones do we have here?
First you need to separate the wheat from the chaff, i.e. select the most promising, dense, large cucumber seeds.
To properly calibrate them, we fill our grains with water, wait a few minutes and drain the seeds that have floated to the surface.
These hollow “floaters” are safely sent to the trash bin, because... they will not be used for sowing. The seeds remaining at the bottom of the container are sent for drying.
It makes sense to warm cucumber seeds if they are fresh, but it is still better to take care of this in advance.
To warm up, just pour the seeds onto a tray or in bags and place or hang over the radiator central heating. At a temperature of +40 degrees, the seeds warm up within a week, if the temperature is +25 degrees, it will take a month.
Warmed seeds are more likely to produce viable seedlings that will begin to bear fruit in early dates, will produce less barren flowers.Warming helps destroy some viral infections.
You can't get sick!
Before soaking, it is necessary to disinfect cucumber seeds.
In the first case, special powdered preparations are used (NIUIF-2, TMTD, granosan), which are placed together with the seeds inside a closed container and shaken continuously for about five minutes.There are two methods: dry etching and wet disinfection.
The wet disinfection method has become more widespread and is carried out using a 1% solution of potassium permanganate.
How much potassium permanganate do we need for our purposes? Approximately 1g 1000 ml of water. The seeds are wrapped in a piece of cloth, placed in a container with a solution of potassium permanganate and left in it for about half an hour, then be sure to be washed under running water.
Let's start water procedures!
For the soaking procedure, you will need a container in the form of a wide plate or saucer, water, gauze and planting material.
A layer of soaked cloth is placed on the vessel, then seeds and again a layer of damp cloth (ordinary gauze will do).
The seedlings are filled with water, the temperature of which is +30–35°C. You need so much water that the fabric is barely covered with water. The container with soaked seeds is placed in a dark place.
At this stage, it is important to constantly monitor the humidity level and not allow it to dry out, otherwise the seeds may simply die.
To maintain a constant level of moisture, it will be more reliable if the fabric with seeds is placed on top of a material that holds water well (cotton wool, foam rubber, sponge).
To prevent the moisture from evaporating too quickly, you can also resort to this method: place the container with the seeds in a large bag (plastic), just do not cover it tightly, but leave it slightly open.
The soaking procedure takes about 24 hours: a lot depends on how quickly the seeds are saturated with moisture. For cucumber seeds, 8–15 hours is enough.
And the water is not easy...
Often you come across information that it is supposedly useful to soak seeds in a liquid to which either wood ash or salt has been added.
Ordinary ash will not cause harm - this is a proven old-fashioned method.
But from salt solutions It’s better to abstain, because they still slightly inhibit germination.
When soaking, the use of biostimulants (Epin, Gumate, "", valerian infusion, aloe juice) has become very popular: they give a high percentage of germination, help reduce the susceptibility of seedlings to bad conditions cultivation, help increase the resistance of vegetable crops to diseases.
The fact is that when the temperature drops below 20°C, the effect of the biological products used is significantly reduced.The main condition is that the soaking solution with added biological products must be at a stable room temperature.
Temper yourself if you want to be healthy!
So that cucumbers can withstand cold weather without any problems, they give early harvest, you can carry out the hardening procedure. This stage is not so much mandatory as it is useful.
It’s great to do it before sending cucumber seeds for germination.
To harden, place the container with the swollen grains in the refrigerator or cellar for 1–2 days.
The container is additionally immersed in a plastic bag, which we leave slightly open, and periodically monitor the moisture level of our seeds.
This hardening of planting material will make the future plant strong, hardy, and resistant to temperature fluctuations and diseases.
Now cucumber seeds can either be sown immediately in the ground, after drying them, or sent for germination.
Germination is carried out until more seeds have roots at least 0.5 cm long.It is recommended to germinate cucumber seeds before planting: the time before germination is the most difficult and dangerous for the future plant, therefore all processes of obtaining healthy, high-quality seedlings must be accelerated by all available means.
All of the above procedures will help you choose the best seed, eliminate repeated reseeding, and achieve uniform and uniform shoots.
If you are not lazy and pay due attention to preparing the planting material before planting, then a rich harvest of delicious cucumbers in the future is guaranteed!
Soaking cucumbers before sowing should be done to speed up seed germination. Thanks to soaking, the harvest of cucumbers improves. Soaking is used effectively to quickly germinate seedlings. It is important to do the soaking correctly.
Cucumber seeds germinate faster after soaking
Seed Soaking Methods
Before planting cucumber seeds, several methods of seed soaking for germination are used:
- Place cucumber seeds in a soaked cotton cloth and wrap. Place everything in a plastic bag and in a warm place. In three days the seed will begin to germinate.
- Place the seeds in a damp cloth and place in glass jar which must be closed with a lid. Leave for three days in a warm place.
- This is enough interesting way. A soaked cloth with cucumber seeds is placed in... a bra. It is believed that this method makes it possible to plant in just a few hours.
- To quickly germinate a seed, use vodka. To do this, the seed is wrapped in gauze and dipped in vodka for 15 minutes. Having drunk vodka, the seed gives fast shoots. Therefore, vodka is also effectively used for seedling growth.
A lot of videos have now been made about soaking methods, but for many it is better to read the information and comprehend it.
Cucumber seeds are germinated on a wet napkin
Preparing for soaking
You need to know that first the seed goes through a disinfection procedure, and then soaking. Before soaking, it is better to dry them near the battery. For soaking, prepare a container, water, and gauze in advance. It is preferable to take melt water or store-bought non-carbonated water.
Soaking cucumber seeds
It is important to properly soak before planting.
The procedure itself is quite simple and is carried out like this:
- Cucumber seeds are laid out on a damp gauze base and covered with a second layer of gauze.
- The seeds are filled with water +30-35 degrees. If you notice that the water is turning brown, it needs to be changed. Do this until it becomes transparent. The amount of liquid depends on the number of seeds. The proportion of liquid and cucumber seeds is 50%.
- The dishes with soaked seeds are left in dark place at a temperature within +20-25 degrees. Sometimes this container is placed in plastic bag, creating a greenhouse effect.
Don't worry about the seeds not having air. It's not obligatory. But the seed cannot be left in water for a long time, otherwise it may die. For swelling, cucumber seeds need 18 hours.
Cucumber seeds can stay in water for up to 18 hours
Preparing seeds before sowing
Pre-sowing preparation makes it possible to select high-quality cucumber seeds and disinfect them. But you need to have the knowledge to do it right. First you need to do calibration - this is determining the quality of seeds.
The seeds are poured with an aqueous solution of table salt (3-5%). Stir vigorously for five minutes, next 3-5 minutes. let it sit.
The seeds that float to the surface are of poor quality, so they are drained along with water. The rest are washed with running water and dried in the shade. It is not recommended to dry it in the sun or near a radiator. Pre-sowing disinfection is carried out by chemical or hydrothermal methods. Chemical etching is carried out in two ways:
- With dry seeds, applying pesticides in powder form to the surface.
- With wet families, which are moistened with water and then treated with pesticides.
For chemical treatment of cucumber seeds, before planting, you can use TMDT in a ratio of 3-8 grams of the drug per kilogram of seed. At home, you can treat with a solution of potassium permanganate (0.5-1%) and baking soda in an amount of 5 g. for 1 liter of water. Soak the seeds in the solution for 20 minutes. You can also use a solution of hydrogen peroxide (10%) heated to +38-45 degrees, where the seeds are kept for 7-8 minutes.
Cucumber seeds can be processed wet
Hardening of the seed
Before planting, it is useful to harden the cucumber seeds.
The hardening process should be done in order to increase the seedlings' tolerance to temperature fluctuations. To do this, the swollen seeds are subjected to temperature fluctuations over several days. The temperature can be +18-20 and -1-3 degrees. The temperature alternates or a short freeze is done at a temperature of +2+5 degrees for 5-20 days. After hardening, the seeds are stored at room temperature before sowing.
Growth stimulants
Professionals advise combining seed soaking with stimulants and biological solutions for rapid germination. This is how the seeds are disinfected. The soaked seed with growth stimulants is left for 12 hours. During this time, the swelling of the seeds will be clearly visible and signs of germination may be observed.
Humate is a natural growth accelerator
The most popular drugs for growth stimulation are the following:
- Epin is a growth stimulant created based on vegetation. The drug promotes rapid adaptation of seedlings environment, helps to more easily endure frosts and lack of light.
- Zircon – based on chicory acid, extracted from echinacea. This is a powerful growth stimulant that accelerates seed growth and is involved in the formation of the root system.
- Humate is an environmentally friendly and safe salt of humic acid with sodium and potassium. It is formed in the process of combining alkaline hydrolysis of peat and brown coal.
There is a wide range of growth stimulants on the market now, so other types are used.
If you are unable to purchase a growth stimulant in the store, use an infusion of valerian, woody vine, or fresh aloe juice for cucumbers. These substances are natural biostimulants.
Many seeds need pre-sowing preparation. It makes it possible to speed up the germination of seeds and protects them from diseases. But such preparation is not always necessary. Let's find out how things work with soaking cucumber seeds - traditional way preparing them for sowing.
Do I need to soak cucumber seeds before planting?
In this article you can get answers to all questions related to the topic of soaking cucumber seeds:
- Is it necessary to soak cucumber seeds before planting? Experienced gardeners claim that soaking really speeds up germination, although cucumbers already germinate very quickly, literally in a few days, provided optimal temperature and humidity. Seeds are also soaked when there is doubt about their germination. However, such pre-sowing preparation also has its risks: in case of unfavorable weather conditions open ground hatched seeds may die.
- How long should cucumber seeds be soaked before planting? Usually this process does not last long, only 1-2 days, until the seeds “hook”, that is, the mouth of the seed opens and a sprout begins to appear. It is not worth keeping cucumber seeds in water. following reasons. Firstly, they can produce seedlings that have not shed their seed coat, which will make it difficult for the cotyledons to open. And secondly, the longer root of a sprouted seed may be damaged during transplantation, and such a plant will inevitably die.
- Do I need to soak processed cucumber seeds? As a rule, this is not done if the seed material is coated or treated with a disinfectant. When soaking, water washes away the protective layer, and the meaning of such treatment is lost. But seeds that have only been disinfected in a solution or peroxide can be soaked for germination.
- Do I need to soak? hybrid seeds cucumbers? The answer to this question is clear - no need. The reason is the same as in the previous paragraph: all hybrid seeds (and this applies not only to cucumbers), as a rule, have already undergone pre-sowing treatment. They are treated with fungicides, coated, granulated or encrusted, and soaking in water will be harmful to them.
Some gardeners know a little trick that allows them to speed up the germination process of cucumber seedlings. This proper soaking seeds before planting in the ground. Moreover, in order to germinate seeds, absolutely any water can be suitable. Thus, in urban environments, pre-frozen running water from the tap is used; in gardens, rain or melt water is used.
Disinfection
Before germination and planting in the ground, seedlings must be disinfected. This will remove bacteria and pathogenic spores, which can later lead to plant disease.
You can process cucumber seeds using several means:
- hydrogen peroxide;
- potassium permanganate;
Each ingredient is mixed with water in one proportion or another, resulting in a solution that allows you to process the crop. Many gardeners who disinfect seedlings most often use hydrogen peroxide, since in this case there is no need to dilute the product with water.
In order to properly treat cucumber seedlings with hydrogen peroxide, you need to purchase a pharmaceutical solution. Concentration active substance it does not exceed 3%. Due to the fact that the concentration of hydrogen peroxide in the liquid is quite low, cucumber seeds must be kept in the solution for 10 to 12 hours. How effective this process is can be judged by the fact that after such treatment, almost all seedlings remain healthy for long term after landing.
In order to increase the health of plants, in addition to 3% hydrogen peroxide, you can use solutions of potassium permanganate and boric alcohol.
In the case of potassium permanganate, unlike hydrogen peroxide, it is necessary to prepare a saturated solution: 5 grams of the substance per 200 grams of water. Next, the seeds are placed in a gauze bag, which is tied to a thread. The end result is something like a tea bag. The resulting structure must be placed in a jar with the prepared solution for no more than 20 minutes.
If cucumber seeds are disinfected by boric acid, then the amount of substance in the solution should not exceed 2 grams per 10 liters of water. The seeds must be immersed in the resulting liquid for 12 hours.
Germination of cucumber seeds and their hardening
After processing, the seeds must be dried. How long does it take to dry? Seedlings are dried for 1-1.5 days in a warm place. It is best if they are placed near the battery. After the deadline has expired, the cucumber seedlings must be inspected and the largest and healthiest ones selected.
Before soaking, additionally immerse the seeds in a solution of wood ash infused for 2 days (2 tablespoons of ash per 1 liter of water). In 3-4 hours, the seeds will get stronger and absorb various nutrients that will help them germinate faster.
Selected and disinfected seeds will be properly soaked. To soak cucumbers, it is recommended to use not just water, but a weak solution of various growth stimulants.
What growth stimulants can be used?
- "Zircon". This is a remedy based on chicoric acid, extracted from the Echinacea plant. The substance is a strong activator of seedling growth and root formation in cucumbers.
- "Epin." It is also a stimulant based on herbal ingredients. The product helps seedlings quickly adapt to environmental conditions and withstand such factors external environment, such as lack of sun or frost.
- "Gumat". It is an environmentally friendly potassium or sodium salt of humic acid, which is produced as a result of an alkaline hydrolysis reaction.
In a flat, wide bowl, you need to pour the liquid in which the cucumber seedlings will be soaked. A fabric sheet is lowered to the bottom, and seeds are placed on it. During this process, the water in the container must be changed periodically.
The time during which cucumber seedlings must be kept in water for their germination to take place directly depends on how quickly they swell.
The degree of swelling of cucumber seedlings is determined visually. The cucumber seeds, swollen and slightly sprouted, are ready for further planting in the ground.
However, before planting it would be correct to carry out pre-sowing hardening. This operation is needed to increase the cold resistance of seedlings. Hardening is carried out by placing slightly sprouted seeds, wrapped in a cloth, in the refrigerator. Hardening in the refrigerator lasts two days, after which young cucumbers can be planted.
Landing
Cucumbers are quite heat-loving plants. That's why important role When planting sprouted seedlings, the temperature of the soil and air in the room plays a role. The optimal is temperature regime soil not lower than 15 degrees Celsius. Of course, it is desirable that the soil be even warmer, since at +15 degrees the seedlings will sprout for quite a long time.
Seedlings must first be planted in the ground in small cups or boxes. How to prepare the soil for planting yourself, how many components are required for this? The soil is prepared by mixing 1 part peat with 2 parts garden soil, if desired, additional sand is added. The earth must be placed in a container so that 1 cm from its top remains free.
After planting, the seedlings must be watered periodically; how many times to do this is determined depending on the soil moisture. However, it is better to water at least 2 times a week. It is best to store cups with seedlings at home.
After about 1 month, the young cucumbers will be strong enough for further transplantation into open ground.
Bottom line
In order to grow cucumbers from seeds, you need to correctly follow the technology of soaking them. Sprouting cucumbers is not such a difficult process; even a beginner can handle it if desired.
To keep cucumbers strong and healthy in the future, plant them in fertile and loose soil. You can set up a greenhouse, or plant seedlings in a greenhouse.