How I prepare cucumber seeds for planting in a way proven for years. Always Harvest Excellent Crop

A good harvest starts with good seeds. This is of particular importance when growing cucumbers: every gardener dreams of growing as many of these vegetables as possible.

That is why it is so important to know the intricacies of preparing cucumber seeds for further planting.

Calibration and selection of incomplete seeds

Incomplete, empty seeds are garbage that inevitably forms in one amount or another, but should not be planted. Cucumbers will not grow out of them. Therefore, I always carry out calibration and culling when I buy "home" seeds and even when buying ready-made branded bags - yes, an incomplete seed can even get in there.

I make a selection in a way proven for decades:

· Making a rejection solution. To do this, add a tablespoon of salt to a liter of water at room temperature or a little warmer.

· I dip the seeds into the solution.

· I remove the floating seeds with a spoon and throw them away - they are incomplete.

I wash the rest of the seeds in warm fresh water and dry them.

Calibration is relevant only when buying seeds "from hand" - they are usually the same size in ready-made bags. For calibration, it is necessary to sort the seeds: the small ones will need to be planted in the ground to a depth of 1 cm, and the larger ones - about 1.5 cm. If you really have a lot of seeds, and most of them are large, you can only plant them.

Preparing for landing

Selected seeds can be prepared for planting. First of all, it is necessary to carry out disinfection so that seeds or young plants do not die due to infectious diseases.

For disinfection, it is necessary to prepare a strong solution of potassium permanganate - its shade should be purple. The seeds should lie in the solution for about 20 minutes, after which they must be removed (not with bare hands!), Rinsed in clean warm water and dried.

Warming up is also required. If you still have about months in stock before the expected planting date, it is enough to hold the bag of seeds near the radiators all this time. If the deadline is running out, heat the seeds at about 50 degrees for two hours.

To recharge, soak the seeds in the wood ash solution for 12 hours. You can also purchase a special growth stimulant and soak in it.

Prepared seeds germinate incredibly well, and the harvest is excellent. Therefore, you should not neglect this stage of preparation.