Pre-Treating Seeds To Promote Germination

Pre-treating Your Seeds

When we start seeds for our garden, we’re attempting to duplicate the effects of nature. Many seeds in the wild go through a cold period or are nibbled by squirrels or tumbled around in rough soil. If we try to germinate these types of seeds without recreating the same conditions, we’ll be disappointed by the results. So how do we encourage these stubborn seeds to sprout? There are three different methods: Stratification, soaking, and scarification. Let’s look at Stratification first.

Stratification

Some seeds require a period of cold temperatures to break their dormancy. Without it, they’ll keep sleeping away and won’t sprout. If starting cold treatment in late summer or fall, you can plant the seeds in a pot and bury the pot outside in the ground. The seeds will sprout in the spring.

However, if starting seeds in early spring, you’ll want to soak them overnight (or up to 24 hours) then place in a 50/50 mixture of sand and peat moss (moist but not wet) in a plastic bag or container with a lid. Label, then place in the refrigerator. Don’t have sterile sand or peat moss on hand? No problem! Get a paper towel wet and wring it out, then fold in half. Sprinkle seeds on top, then fold it all in half again. Place in a plastic bag, label, and refrigerate.

These seeds will need to sit in the fridge for anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months. Start checking for germination after 3-4 weeks. If you start to see a sign of mold or rotting seeds, toss them. This can happen if the seeds were stored in a too-warm environment before stratification.

What plants will require cold treatment (and for how long?) Here’s a partial list (click to see description):

• Butterfly bush (30 days)
• Early Sunflower (30 days)
• Anise Hyssop (30 days)
• Columbine (60 days)
• Blue Sage (30 days)
• Stonecrop Sedum (60 days)
• Black Eyed Susan (30 days)
• Ironweed (60 days)
• Vervain (30 days)
• Lavender (30 days)
• Pasque Flower (60 days)

Many perennials will benefit from even 10 days of cold treatment, which will boost their germination rates. Give it a try with poppies, heartsease and sweet alyssum.

Click to read about pre-soaking and scarification.

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