• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Growing
    • Our Garden ’22
    • Our Garden ’21
    • Our Garden ’20
    • Our Garden ’19
    • Our Garden ’18
    • Our Garden ’17
    • Our Garden ’16
    • Our Garden ’15
    • Our Garden ’14
    • Our Garden ’13
    • Our Garden ’12
  • Building
  • Simplifying
  • Preserving
  • Recipes
  • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

Northern Homestead

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

May 2, 2023

Soak or Sprout Seeds for Planting

 

To soak or sprout seeds before planting is an option to speed up germination time. It is an option, not required. However, we have used it often enough to dedicate a blog article to it. 

Difference between soaking and sprouting

Sowing Carrots in Cornstarch

Soaking seeds means putting seeds in water to give them the chance to soak up moisture. It awakens the seeds. The soaking in water usually takes 6-12 hours. Warm water speeds up the process. We soak the carrots seeds before sowing in corn starch for example. 

There is a danger to drown the seeds though if you leave them in water for too long. Some seeds will never germinate when left in water. Personally, we prefer to use a Sprouter instead. 

In the Sprouter the seeds get soaked for a few minutes but then leave some moisture in the grooves. There is no danger of oversoaking, and the seeds can be left to sprout if so desired. 

Soak or Sprout Seeds for Planting

If you do not have a Sprouter, sprouting on a wet pepper towel on a plate is another option. Keep the towel moist till the seeds germinate. 

For sprouting seeds are left till they show a small sprout. It’s the beginning of a root, and with that, the growing process has started. 

What seeds to sprout?

Biosta Sprauter for seeds S

Any seeds can be sprouted. However, very small seeds can be difficult to handle after they have sprouted. 

Bigger seeds like peas, beans, cucumbers, and squash are great for sprouting. Those are also all seeds that are best planted directly. The sprouting gives you the benefit of speeding up the germination. 

Soak or Sprout Seeds for Planting

Sprouting is also a great option for older seeds of any kind. If you are not sure if they will still grow, instead of planting and hoping for the best, sprout them first. If they don’t sprout, you did not waste time and effort to plant them. 

When sprouting different varieties, don’t forget to label them. There is no way to tell sprouted seeds apart. 

For how long to sprout seeds?

The time for sporting varies greatly depending on the variety but also on the quality of the seeds. keep an eye on them, it might go faster than you expected. 

For planting out directly into the garden you want the seeds to be just show the sprout. This way they are easier to handle and you will not accidentally break off the new sprout. 

Soak or Sprout Seeds for Planting

Seeds can also be pre-sprouted for single plantings, like tomato seedlings. In this case, they can be left for a bit longer. Carefully lift every seed with the little root on it and plant it into a pot. I use tweezers for that. 

Soak or Sprout Seeds for Planting

If precise work with little seeds is not your thing, you can still sprout the seeds, just plant them before they have a root. Planting a rooted seedling just speeds up the germination even more. It is all optional, do what works best for you. 

Planting soaked or sprouted seeds

7 Ways to Keep Your Garden Chores Enjoyable

With the exception of the single planting that we just covered, soaked or sprouted seeds are not much different than normal seeds except they are more fragile. 

Dry seeds still have the protective skin that is broken when the seeds have been soaked or sprouted. They need to be handled with care and caped moist. 

Ideally, prepare the planting site before bringing out the seeds and have water ready to water them right away. 

Plant them as per usual about 3 times their size deep and cover lightly and water well. If the weather is dry, keep them moist so the new growth doesn’t dry out. 

What experiences have you made with soaking or sprouting seeds? 

We invite you to subscribe to Northern Homestead and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest for the latest updates.

More Planting Posts You Might Enjoy

Planting Pickling Cucumbers in a Bottomless Pot

Planting Pickling Cucumbers in a Bottomless Pot

Dry Spring Challenge in the Garden

Dry Spring Challenge in the Garden

Soak or sprout seeds for planting

Soak or Sprout Seeds for Planting

How to Deal with Multiple Seedlings in one Pot

How to Deal with Multiple Seedlings in one Pot

Starting Seeds in Vermiculite

Early spring direct garden planting

Early spring direct garden planting

Making and planting seed bombs

Making and planting seed bombs

Starting Seeds Indoors

Starting Seeds Indoors

Spring Indoor Seed-Starting Schedule

Spring Indoor Seed-Starting Schedule – Free Printable

When organizing seeds you can go from very simple to super fancy. I am for simple. Storing seeds in a box and a photo album. Expiring and reordering seeds.

Organizing and Storing Seeds

Filed Under: Gardening, Planting, Seeds Tagged With: Gardening, Seeds, Sprouting

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Ronda says

    May 2, 2023 at

    I love this post. Especially the idea of sprouting older seeds!! Definitely tackling this project. Thank you very much.

    Reply
    • Anna says

      May 3, 2023 at

      You are welcome, glad it is helpful. I just had several older/low-quality seeds that did not come up. Having them in the Sprouter is really a lot easier than planting and waiting, and waiting. And surprisingly one or two still sprout, it’s a bonus.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Welcome, nice to meet you!

Jakob und Anna winter 2Northern Homestead is a blog about urban homesteading in a cold climate. We write about growing, raising, preserving, and preparing our own real food.
Learn more ...

Never Miss A Blog Post

Find It Fast

Building

We share how we build things and use alternative energies. Building a greenhouse is almost a must in a northern climate to overcome cold and frost.

Growing

Growing your own food year round using organic methods. Here you will find many proven gardening tips and ideas.

Raising

Preserving

Recipes

Simplifying

Project simple living

Popular Posts

  • There are many ways to preserve beets, here we share how to freeze beets in 3 different ways: Cooked, roasted and chooped raw. How to Freeze Beets in 3 Ways
  • How to Build a GeoDome Greenhouse How to Build a GeoDome Greenhouse
  • Canned zucchini salad is an old Russian recipe. This 3 summer vegetables combined make a very delicious dish. It is very yummy. Canned Zucchini Salad

Footer

Follow us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Disclosure

Some posts include affiliate advertising links to Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, which give us a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you.

Copyright© 2023 · Brunch Pro Theme by Shay Bocks

Receive the newest updates to your email!

Sign up to stay tuned and to be notified about new releases and posts directly in your inbox.

[email protected]
John
Smith