Preparing parsley seeds for quick germination: what to soak in and how to do it correctly?

What is soaking and how does it differ from other methods of preparation?

Soaking is the preparation of seeds for planting. The fact is that in order for the planting material of any cultivated plant to hatch and sprout faster, it requires moisture. There are two ways to ensure its receipt:

1. Sow dry seeds - but generously water the soil in which they are placed.
2. Before sowing, place the seeds in a moist environment so that they have time to absorb enough water.

It should be noted that the first method does not exclude the second. At the same time, parsley can be not only soaked before being planted.

In addition to this method, others are used:

• Germination. This method is close to soaking, but in this case the seeds are not only placed in a humid environment, but also kept there until sprouts and roots appear.
• Disinfection. It is rarely used for parsley, but is often used for other cultivated plants. In this case, the seeds are placed not just in water, but in a chemical solution that destroys fungi and bacteria that can harm the plants.
• Bubbling. This is soaking together with oxygenation. In this case, the seeds are placed in water, but under a stream of air bubbles from the compressor. This method dramatically increases germination.
• Germination testing. In this case, not the entire batch of seeds is soaked, but several samples (usually a multiple of ten to make it easier to calculate the percentage of germination). The more sprouts produced, the higher the germination rate.

Are there other ways to improve germination?

In addition to soaking, there are other ways to prepare seeds:

1. Calibration and sorting of seeds to remove non-germinating ones.
2. Pour dry seeds into a fabric bag and bury them in unheated soil to a depth of 30-35 cm for two weeks. Remove the bag from the ground before sowing, dry the seeds on paper and sow.
3. Keep the seeds in hot water in a thermos for 30 minutes to two hours, then dry.
4. Warm the seeds on a central heating radiator, first wrapping them in cloth. – Rinse the seeds wrapped in a cloth bag in hot water 3-4 times.
5. Bubbling – mixing seeds in water saturated with oxygen for 18-24 hours. After the bubbling procedure, the seeds are dried.

There are many methods for preparing seed, but soaking is the most effective way to increase the germination of parsley and improve the quality of the crop. It will take some effort, but it's worth it to enjoy this vitamin seasoning.

Is this procedure necessary before sowing in open ground or containers?

Advice

Soaking is not a mandatory procedure. Parsley sprouts well even when planted with dry seeds.

Moreover, it quite often runs wild during cultivation and begins to reproduce on its own, turning into a weed in the garden beds (but quite a useful weed, since even wild parsley can be used as a seasoning).

However, soaking has its advantages:

1. It accelerates seed germination. Parsley is a long-growing plant, and therefore if the harvest is needed faster, soaking is extremely useful.
2. Sprouted parsley usually produces a larger harvest.
3. In addition to swelling from water, various methods of germination can additionally provide parsley with disinfection and release of excess substances that protect the seeds but interfere with their rapid germination.

Seed cooling

Parsley is considered a cold-resistant crop. It is ideal to sow it in April, when light frosts are possible at night. The impact of low temperatures has an “awakening” effect on the seeds, so those who plan to plant greens in May must first artificially cool their seeds. They need to be placed in a dark place, wrapped in a “breathable” material (a matchbox, cloth or paper will do), and put in the refrigerator for 3 days. You need to apply cool, and not extremely low, temperatures; planting material should not be frozen.

Advantages and disadvantages

Soaking parsley seeds allows you to:

• Accelerate the emergence of seedlings.
• Provide parsley with a large green mass and rapid development of the root (although parsley is mainly used in cooking, grated root is often used for preservation).

However, there are also disadvantages of this method:

• Soaking weakens the natural protection of the seeds. If there are pests, frosts are expected - the seedlings may die.
• The method is useless when growing parsley from the roots.
• Parsley grows well without soaking. Moreover, when sowing before winter, it is not required - and a two-year crop just gives the main harvest after wintering.

Why are there no sprouts for too long?

Entries appearing longer than expected due to the following reasons:

• Cold spells after warm weather slow down the germination of seeds or the forcing of sprouts.
• Lack of moisture prevents oils from dissolving or seedlings from growing.
• When the crops are deepened by 1.5-2 cm, seedlings will appear only after the root has formed, since a small seed does not have enough strength to grow to a greater height.

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How to prepare seeds?

To ensure maximum yield from parsley seeds, you can use the following methods:

1. Manually select damaged and small seeds.
2. Place the seeds in a strong salt solution and discard any that float. Those that have settled to the bottom must be washed, dried and then prepared for sowing.

All these methods are optional. You can send the seeds for soaking without additional measures.

Soaking seeds in milk

A dense layer of essential oils envelops parsley seeds and protects them from the effects of negative environmental factors, preventing their rapid breakdown in the ground and the appearance of early shoots. The oily coating can be removed by soaking the seeds in milk for several days before planting.

You need to place parsley seeds in a cotton bag, put it in a deep bowl and pour fresh milk heated to 35-37 degrees. It dissolves the film of essential oils well, and after just three days of such soaking, the planting material will “swell” and sprout quickly. There is no need to change the milk in the bowl, the main thing is to ensure that the bag is always wet.

Step-by-step instructions: how to carry out the procedure and how long to immerse?

When soaking, the gardener will need:

• The working fluid in which the soaking will take place.
• Parsley seeds.
• Textile. It is used as a layer or as a pouch. Anything is suitable - from gauze to synthetics. The main thing is that it allows moisture and air to pass through.

Below we tell you what you can soak in for quick germination and how to do it correctly.

In water

The easiest way to soak is to use hot water. In this case, the following method is used:

1. Prepare a bowl that is large enough to accommodate the entire batch of seeds, but not too deep so that the layer of water above the parsley seeds is deeper than 3-5 cm.
2. A layer of gauze of at least 4-5 layers is placed on the bottom of the dish. Seeds are laid out on it.
3. Everything is filled with water - hot, but not boiling. The optimum here is 70-80 degrees, a temperature when you can put your hand in the water without fear, but you won’t be able to hold it for long. In extreme cases, water from the hot tap of a city apartment will do.
4. The dish is covered with a lid and left for a day in a warm place so that it can cool slowly. Essential oils are dissolved, the seeds are saturated with water and prepared for planting.
5. After a day, parsley can be planted in the ground.

Important!

What is required is hot water. It makes no sense to pour parsley with room water: at this temperature, essential oils do not dissolve, which means soaking is useless.

In hydrogen peroxide

To remove essential oils from the surface of seeds, you can use hydrogen peroxide. This substance acts as both a stimulant and an antiseptic.

The soaking technology will be like this:

1. Pharmaceutical concentrate and 3% peroxide are poured into a shallow container. Seeds are placed in it for 15-20 minutes - either poured or placed in a fabric bag. Then the seeds are thoroughly washed in clean water.
2. Prepare a solution of 1 tablespoon of pharmaceutical peroxide per liter of water. The solution is poured into a container, and parsley seeds are placed in it for a day. After this, the seeds are planted directly into the soil; no washing is required.

In milk

If milk is used for soaking, the gardener needs to pay attention to the following:

• The best results are obtained by using natural whole milk rather than store-bought milk reconstituted from powder. Therefore, if it is possible to soak parsley seeds in homemade milk, it is better to use it than store-bought milk.
• The milk needs to be checked. If it has been stored for more than two days, it should not be used for soaking. Even natural milk turns sour at this stage and forms an additional film on the seeds. For some plants this is useful to protect them from pests - but for parsley it is unnecessary.
• Milk must be poured into a glass. If there are white marks on the walls slowly flowing down, it means that the milk is fat enough and is suitable for soaking.

The procedure looks like this:

1. Take a shallow plate.
2. Seeds that have been selected and calibrated are placed in it.
3. The milk is heated to about 40 degrees - so that it is hot, but not boiling. Then the container with the seeds is filled with liquid.
4. The saucer is left in a dark, warm place for 10-12 hours.
5. The seeds are removed from the milk (if necessary, strained out using a hand strainer) and dried on toilet paper for several hours. After this they can disembark.

Attention!

It is necessary not to overexpose the seeds in milk. If they remain in it for too long, the milk may sour - and the milk microflora affects the seeds unpredictably.

In potassium permanganate

A solution of potassium permanganate can not only dissolve essential oils and saturate the seeds with water, but at the same time it also disinfects them before planting. It looks like this:

1. A solution of potassium permanganate is prepared. To do this, you need a 2% solution - a teaspoon of powder in 2 glasses of warm water.
2. The seeds are placed in a shallow dish.
3. They are filled with ready-made solution.
4. Stand for 40-45 minutes.
5. They are sown in the ground without washing.

In a growth stimulator so that the plant sprouts quickly

Finally, soaking seeds in a solution of chemicals that stimulate the growth of cultivated plants is effective. Here are some recommendations:

1. Dissolve 6 drops of Epin in 100 ml of boiled warm water. Parsley seeds are placed in the solution in a gauze bag for 23 hours.
2. 0.5 g of potassium humate is diluted in 1 liter of warm water. The soaking period is the same.
3. The seeds are placed in a solution of 2 tablespoons of wood ash and a liter of water for two days.

Parsley planting dates

The crop can be planted in open ground in autumn or spring.

Planting parsley in open ground in autumn

Greens are practically not afraid of winter frosts, so sowing parsley in the autumn is painless.

Procedure:

1. Clear the entire garden of crops. Remove old grass.
2. Prepare the bed - fertilize and loosen the soil, dig up the bed if necessary.
3. Plant ready-made seeds in shallow furrows.
4. Cover the crop with soil. You can water it a little (but don't overdo it).

Do not worry that the crop may sprout in winter. Cold conditions will prevent greenery from sprouting. In winter, you need to monitor the amount of snow in the garden. If there is not enough snow, then snow is sprinkled from other beds. An abundance of snow will help keep the crop warm and also provide sufficient moisture. How many days does it take for parsley planted in autumn to sprout? The crop will germinate as soon as the average air temperature warms up to ten degrees Celsius.

Important! The snow in the parsley bed needs to be lightly trampled down.

Planting crops in open ground in spring

Most gardeners plant greens at the end of April. In order for the crop to germinate earlier, the seeds must be soaked.