What a great idea. might give it a go , after I get my fall plantings situated for the winter. Does it work for winter plantings of spinach ?

Okie HU

I have to assume it'll work for just about any seed. I used to have a lot of trouble getting beets and carrots to germinate. Doing it this way, they all come up. For tiny seeds like carrots, wet seeds are a bit awkward to handle. They stick to your fingers. After soaking, lay them out on a paper towel to dry their surface. Then they are a bit easier to handle. They're still full of water.

I've never had any trouble getting beets to germinate when sown for a fall crop. It's the spring crop where I get at best fair germination, I attribute that to the cold soil. They germinate in a snap in the latter part of summer, though. You're in a completely diffferent zone, though. I always use pelletted seed; otherwise, they're just too hard to handle. Soaking really small seeds like beets seems like would make them even harder to handle - ?

Nope, for beet seeds, which are macroscopic, it's pretty easy for me to pick up and manipulate a moistened seed. I had many years where I would plant unsoaked beet seeds in November/December, maybe half would come up, and I had to replant repeatedly. We're talking 60F soil temps. Now I plant well soaked seeds ONCE, and they all come up. Carrot seeds, which are very small, are a bit trickier to handle when moist, like you point out. That all being said, there may be something about pelleting that aids germination. Maybe the clay pellets absorb water better and keep the seed more moist? Interesting.

I never had luck with carrots, although I admit I gave up after only a couple tries. I'll be switching over to mostly raised beds over the course of the next few years, so maybe eventually I'll try again in a raised bed where I can control the texture of the soil and everything is up at a hip level or so. Pelleted seed is so easy to handle when sowing, another benefit is the pelleting is white or light gray so it's easy to see where you've dropped the seed. There are a few seeds in each beet pellet so still have to thin -- but that's easy enough.

I went through a couple of years giving up on carrots before I did this soaking. I need to look into pelleted seed, though the varieties available will be very restricted. Very good point about being able to see tiny seeds where you've dropped them. That would certainly be handy. Interestingly, the EPA requires seeds that are coated with any form of chemical to be colored to avoid mixing them with untreated seed.

I should add that there is some talk about assessing seed viability by whether it floats. Allegedly, if the seed floats, it isn't viable. That's BS. For most tiny seeds, all of them will initially float. Strangely, there are some master gardeners spouting this falsehood. Also, I learn that pelleted seeds generally have a shorter lifetime than unpelleted seed. That's useful to know.

"Interestingly, the EPA requires seeds that are coated with any form of chemical to be colored to avoid mixing them with untreated seed."

I didn't know that. I've always wondered why sometimes seed is yellow or red. Now I know :0)

One might wonder whether you should soak pelleted seeds. One might think that the clay/kaolin coating will just fall off.

"One might wonder whether you should soak pelleted seeds. One might think that the clay/kaolin coating will just fall off."

No, and yes it will -- I've handled with wet hands before and the coating will crumble and dissolve. Which it's supposed to.

Thanks. That makes a lot of sense. You'd like the coating to fall off the seed promptly when the pelleted seed is deposited in moist soil. So the recommendation to soak seeds does NOT apply to pelleted seed. Of course, that means that the pelleted seeds, when planted, won't be saturated with water, so although they're easier to plant, they might not germinate as readily.

"Of course, that means that the pelleted seeds, when planted, won't be saturated with water, so although they're easier to plant, they might not germinate as readily."

IME they germinate very readily -- water is absorbed from the soil, which breaks down the seed coat. My problem is cold spring soil; like I said, they germinate in a snap when sown for a fall crop.

I suppose since the pellets are bonded tightly to the seed, as they absorb water, they transfer it to the seed effectively. If you just drop a seed in soil and cover it up, the soil may not thoroughly contact the seed. Probably depends somewhat on the soil.