Seedy Business

I’ve heard tell that soaking your seeds can speed up germination by as much as one week. Apparently, it gets the seeds thinking that they’ve been planted in the soil and are taking in the moisture from around them. When getting ready to sow the first round of greens, radishes, and peas Easter weekend, I figured I’d try soaking half the seeds I would plant. The other half just came right out of the package. It will be interesting to see which ones germinate first!

I soaked everything that I planted except for the lettuce seeds. They’re so small and feathery that it just didn’t seem to make sense. Everything was soaked in warm tap water on my kitchen counter for about 18 hours (it’s recommended you let them soak 12-24 hours). Then, I rinsed them in a handheld strainer and dried off the excess water with a paper towel.

My only regret is that I soaked the arugula seeds, and they formed a sort of “gel” that made them impossible to plant. If you’ve ever soaked chia or flax seeds, you know what I mean. Needless to say, I will not soak them again.

Have you ever tried soaking seeds? Have you noticed a difference in germination rates?