How to properly soak tomato seeds before planting

Why do you need to soak

Experienced gardeners rightfully consider the correct preliminary preparation and processing of seeds before planting, from which good quality seedlings will grow, as the basis for a good and rich harvest of tomatoes in the future. Experts say that soaking tomato seeds can perfectly disinfect them and increase yields by 25 - 30%. First, you need to select the seeds, removing all the weak and empty. After sampling high-quality tomato seeds, they are necessarily warmed up, then disinfected, after which they are treated with nutrients and soaked.
If you sow tomato seeds that are not properly prepared, then the seedlings may well appear at the same time, and the seedlings will become very sick with such ailments as root and stem rot, white and gray, phomosis, black leg and many others. Pre-sowing soaking can reduce the likelihood of disease by 50%. That is, answering the questions of novice gardeners, we can safely say that the seeds must be soaked! Since after this procedure, the seedlings will be more stable, and the faster they germinate, the less likely the seeds will die in the soil - they are quite capable of being eaten by pests.

How to do it right

You need to select seeds that are large in size and heavy in weight - this will mean that they have many useful substances, which means that strong and viable tomatoes can grow from them. Before proceeding with the selection of tomato seeds, it is necessary to prepare a solution of table salt - a tablespoon in a glass of water. Then you need to pour the seeds there and let them stay there for a short amount of time. Empty ones will be on the surface, and suitable ones will certainly fall down.

They should also be warmed up before soaking; at home, you can do this on a battery for a couple of days. Also, before soaking, you need to disinfect the seeds. You can do this by placing them in a potassium permanganate solution for 20 minutes or in a hydrogen peroxide solution heated to 40 degrees. Now you can soak the tomato seeds. It should be borne in mind that the volume of water should be 50 - 100 times greater than the volume of seeds. The likelihood that the seeds can suffocate, being under the water column, is small, since they do not need oxygen when they swell.

Tomato seeds should be placed in a small gauze bag and immersed in warm water, the temperature of which does not exceed 20 - 25 degrees. Stir occasionally while soaking tomato seeds. The time depends on how quickly the seeds will swell. If brown matter is released from them into the water, it must be changed. Typically, tomato seeds can take about 18 hours to swell. Do not soak before planting in ash extracts, saline solutions, as this can inhibit the plant. After soaking, the planting material is slightly dried, and then either laid for germination, or sown in seedling boxes prepared in advance.

What is the best way to soak? In addition to water, today there are solutions that contain bioactive substances (solution of humate, zircon, epin). For example, epin is a herbal preparation that will help the seeds to adapt before planting and will stimulate their normal growth. Humate is a salt of humic acid, which is obtained as a result of alkaline hydrolysis of peat or brown coal. It also has anti-stress and stimulating properties. Zircon will help tomato seeds grow a strong root system and vigorous germination.

Other processing methods

In addition to the well-known pre-soaking, there are some other methods of processing tomato seeds. Bubbling is the soaking of seeds in water that is saturated with oxygen. To carry out this procedure at home, it is advised to use compressors - the same ones that are used for aquariums. Air or oxygen is supplied to the bubbler under the required pressure - for tomatoes, the time is approximately 18 - 24 hours. After this kind of processing, an excellent rich harvest can be expected from future seedlings from which strong tomatoes will grow.

In the course of pelleting - the creation of granules by building up mixtures of protective, nutritious and stimulating substances around the seeds. Drageeing planting material begins 3 - 6 months before the intended sowing. Most often, it is customary to carry out such a procedure for large batches in production conditions.

Stratification is another method of preparing tomato seeds for sowing. It is best suited for those seeds that tend to grow for a long time. Indeed, under natural conditions, in the fall, seeds fall on the soil, then they are covered with a layer of leaves, and in the winter season - with snow, they are overcome by frosts. It is in such conditions that they are until the onset of spring, after which they already germinate. The same, close to natural, conditions are created artificially in the course of stratification. For this, the seeds are mixed with wet sand; peat is also suitable due to its good air permeability and ability to retain moisture.

Then all this is placed in a container in the cold - the temperature will be from minus 3 to zero. The duration of the procedure is from three to six weeks. If necessary, the seeds are mixed in a bowl and slightly moistened. Immediately before sowing, the planting material must be slightly dried.

Seeds, which have a fairly hard shell, should be dipped in a gauze bag in boiling water for 10 to 20 seconds.

After that, they need to be quickly placed in a cold one for a couple of seconds. Or vice versa - first freeze it, and then scald it several times with boiling water. This procedure causes the shell to burst and the seed is able to germinate normally. It is permissible to slightly cut or file the shell; grinding such seeds with gravel or coarse sand has also proven itself well.

Seed Soak Video

On the record, the man talks about the correct soaking of tomato seeds before planting and about the procedure for planting in the ground.