Allotments 4 All

You guys set me straight on rotation, so here's another one. Are there any seeds we need to soak before sowing - I have heard/read vague references to this but I'm not sure which ones, if any - maybe the larger, harder ones like broad beans? Do any of you soak (other than after a hard day's graft down at the lottie)?
 

I'm trying a method a newbie member passed on recently,  ;) that was to place pea seeds in a jar with dampened paper towels, he recons it works well and was a tip from his dad, I have only just tried this so can't report back with any success stories yet. ;D

Quote from: Roy Bham UK on March 29, 2005, 23:58:47
I'm trying a method a newbie member passed on recently,  ;) that was to place pea seeds in a jar with dampened paper towels, he recons it works well and was a tip from his dad, I have only just tried this so can't report back with any success stories yet. ;D

That is how my children 1st grew seeds in infants with a paper towel rolled into a clear glass jar so they could view their seeds grwing and it usually was a broad bean placing the bean between the paper and the jar and left on the windowsill

http://www.rain.org/~sals/soak.html ??

Soaked my runner beans for 24 hrs on advice from my dad - awaiting results as only just took out of saok and planted in pots yesterday.

Have done in the past, but generally don't bother now.  Didn't my morning glory or sweetpeas and have had 100% germination.  ;D

I soaked my early peas this year for the first time and have had good germination in my gutter -better than previously- so I think I'll keep it up.

Also soaked my saved canna seeds and half of them have germinated so far.

Jeremy

I don't bother with peas and beans and get pretty good germination.

Some people say soak parsley. My best crop came from seeds I didn't soak, but watered them with boiling water just after I sowed them.

Thanks everyone - I think.... Sounds like a yes, no, maybe kind of thing. Doesn't look as though soaking will do any harm, and may help, so.......I think I'll try the pre-sow 24 hour soaking for some seeds. Not sure about the boiling water after sowing - but I'll give that a go as well. Loads to do still.

Almost all seeds will germinate, soak or not, but some seeds will benefit time wise from a soak. Common ones are sweetpeas, bean seeds, sunflower and the like.
A good way to do it is to soak between layers of tissue. Don't drown, just keep it moist. When you see a shoot start, SOW.