Appreciation post: The old school gardener who showed me seed soaking vs direct sowing

I spent 2 years trying to grow morning glories from seed by just throwing them in the ground and barely got anything. My neighbor's grandma in Portland finally showed me her method last spring: soak seeds 24 hours in warm water, then nick the hard coat with a nail clipper. I got 30 sprouts out of 40 seeds in one week compared to maybe 5 from direct sowing the year before. Has anyone else had way better luck with pre-soaking certain seeds?

2 comments

2 Comments

olivia_wilson1mo ago

Oh man, I used to be one of those "just throw them in the dirt and let nature do its thing" people. Thought soaking was some kind of extra step that didn't really matter. Then I tried it with some old bean seeds I had laying around last spring. Soaked them for maybe 18 hours and they all popped up in like 4 days, compared to the batch I just tossed in the ground that barely did anything. It totally changed my mind about it. I still don't do it for everything but for hard seeds like beans, peas, and morning glories, it's basically magic.

river_rivera451mo ago

Did you notice any difference in the plants after they sprouted? Like did the soaked ones grow faster or stronger than the ones that just barely came up? I've been soaking my bean and pea seeds for a few years now and I swear the plants seem healthier right from the start. They put out their first true leaves a good few days earlier than if I skip the soak. Just curious if you saw that too or if it was mainly just about getting them to pop up at all.