To ensure that cucumber seeds germinate quickly and the shoots have strong stems, experienced gardeners soak them in a nutrient solution.
This procedure is performed for all cucumber seeds, except for pelleted and encrusted ones, i.e. covered with a shell of nutrients. Moreover, soaking and saturation of grains with microelements is performed before planting in open ground, in greenhouses, and for seedlings.
What should you soak cucumber seeds in before sowing?
Here are two time-tested recipes for liquid for dipping cucumber seeds before planting, awakening them and sanitation.
Potassium humate solution
Humic acid stimulates seed awakening, under its influence sprouts appear much faster, and seedlings grow healthy. Potassium humate is used both for soaking planting material and for caring for seedlings and adult vegetable crops.
Cucumber seeds are filled with a solution prepared from 1 ml of potassium humate dissolved in 100 ml of clean and warm water. It takes 30 minutes to saturate the planting material with microelements. After that, the seeds are dried and sown in the substrate - in pots or on beds.
Hydrogen peroxide (3%)
Soaking in hydrogen peroxide not only speeds up the awakening of seeds, but also effectively disinfects them. It is especially important to disinfect self-collected planting material received from neighbors or bought at the market. The probability that phytopathogens are present on the grains is quite high.
Perhydrol is a powerful oxidizer due to its hydrogen atoms. Hydrogen peroxide dissolves the seed coat well, so they sprout very quickly.
For soaking, use undiluted pharmacy hydrogen peroxide (3%). Place the seeds in a shallow glass bowl and pour in a transparent liquid so that it covers them to a height of at least 5 mm.
The planting material is kept in hydrogen peroxide for 2 hours, after which it is dried and sown.
Tips for Soaking Cucumber Seeds
Some seeds, filled with liquid, float to the surface. Do not remove them immediately. Most are saturated with the solution and sink to the bottom after 30 minutes. But the seeds that continue to float on the surface after half an hour are empty, so there is no point in planting them.
Choose any of the suggested recipes for soaking seeds, and you will see their effectiveness in practice.
Good luck with your cucumber growing!
