Can You Soak Fruit & Vegetable Seeds in Water Before Planting?

you can soak fruit and vegetable seeds prior to planting to increase their chance and rate of growth.

Soaking fruit and vegetable seeds before planting them helps to soften the seed coating and bring the seed out of dormancy. Seeds that soaked before planting may germinate faster and under harsher conditions than those that are not.

Types

Seeds with harder seed coatings benefit from soaking before planting. These types of plants include beets, carrots, melons, parsley, parsnips, peas and spinach.

Time Frame

You should generally not soak seeds for longer than 24 hours prior to planting because the goal is to just soften the seed coating to make it easier for them to sprout. Some smaller seeds such as carrots or parsley may be ready to plant after an overnight soak.

Sprouting

In addition to soaking the seeds before planting, you may also sprout them, which is sometimes called chitting. In this method, you soak seeds for six to eight hours and then pour off the water and rinse the seeds a couple of times per day until small roots emerge from the seeds. Plant the seeds in the garden immediately.

References

• Go Organic Gardening: Pre-Treating Your Seeds Before Planting
• Seattle Pi: Good Enough to Eat: Get a Head Start on Vegetable Seed Growth by Cashing in your Chits