How much and how to soak peas before planting in open ground

Soaking peas before planting is necessary for quick and successful germination of seed material. The procedure is quite simple, but when it is carried out, certain rules must be observed.

Do I need to soak pea seeds before planting?

During long-term storage, pea seeds lose moisture and dry out greatly. If you plant them in the ground without pre-soaking, then germination will be difficult. Dry kernels will accumulate moisture in the soil for a long time and will not sprout immediately.

If you carry out a special soaking before sowing, the peas will rise faster and in full. The kernels placed in water will swell properly and release small roots. After that, it remains only to carefully transfer them to the soil and wait only a few days until greenery appears.

When sowing dry pea seeds, some of them may, in principle, not sprout.

How long to soak peas before planting

The soaking time of peas before planting is determined individually. Several points need to be taken into account:

• features of the pea variety;
• actual condition of dry seeds;
• type of solution used;
• concentration of soaking agent.

On average, peas are kept in water for 6-18 hours. When using a special solution, you must study the instructions in advance. In addition, they look at the appearance of the nuclei – they should be removed from the liquid only after they swell well.

How to soak pea seeds before planting

Soaking pea grains is a fairly simple procedure. But it will benefit the seed only if certain rules are observed. In addition, there are different ways to process peas before planting. In general, they are similar to each other and differ mainly in duration.

Simple soak

The easiest way is to soak pea kernels in ordinary clean water at room temperature. The detailed algorithm looks like this:

1. Seed material is pre-sorted. All damaged, too small or darkened grains must be removed.
2. Selected kernels are checked for quality. To do this, stir 1 g of edible salt in 15 liter of water, and then pour the peas into a container. Use for planting those seeds that sink to the bottom. Floated kernels are thrown away, since they still will not give seedlings.
3. The selected material is poured into a new container with clean water at room temperature and left for an average of 10-12 hours.
4. At the end of the procedure, the liquid is drained, and the peas are transferred to a towel for drying.

When processing planting material, it is important to monitor the condition of the nuclei and water. If bubbles appear in the bowl, this will indicate the death of the grains due to being in the liquid for too long.

When soaking peas every three hours, the liquid in the bowl is changed so that it does not turn sour.

Soaking in hot water

Another method suggests using hot water for soaking. The method allows you to significantly speed up the germination of culture. The processing scheme looks like this:

1. Pea grains are sorted and all poor-quality kernels are thrown out, and then the remaining material is checked with a saline solution.
2. The selected seeds are poured into a thermos and filled with water at a temperature of 38-45 ° C.
3. Under a closed lid, planting material is left in the liquid for three hours.
4. After the expiration of the period, the water is carefully drained and the grains are laid out to dry.

When in a hot liquid, pea kernels swell faster. In addition, vital processes are activated in them, and subsequently the material germinates better.

After soaking in hot water, peas germinate 2-3 days faster than after treatment with a warm solution.

The use of preparations for soaking

You can soak peas before sowing not only in water, but also in special biologically active solutions. The addition of such preparations is considered very desirable, as they help to disinfect the planting material and increase its resistance to infections and fungi.

Zircon

The Zircon fungicide is well suited for pre-soaking. The tool not only accelerates germination, but also protects seeds from fungal diseases, and also increases yield and stimulates the formation of new grains.

To prepare the solution, it is necessary to add two drops of the drug to 300 ml of water. It takes 8-18 hours to keep the kernels in liquid, depending on their condition and the variety of peas.

Zircon is suitable for soaking very dry seeds, as it penetrates well through dense shells.

Fundazole

A good effect when soaking provides a solution of Fundazol. A fungicidal agent is often used to treat and prevent fungal diseases of plants, but it can also be used before sowing seeds to increase immunity.

To process peas, add 10 g of the drug to 2 liters of water and mix thoroughly. Bean kernels in the prepared soaking solution are kept for 6-18 hours until the shell softens. The procedure is carried out approximately five days before sowing.

Fundazol provides pea grains with protection against root rot

Epin

The antibacterial agent strengthens the immunity of pea grains and accelerates the germination of the material. After soaking in the preparation, the culture quickly grows not only roots, but also above-ground shoots.

Epin for seed treatment is dissolved in water in a proportion of five drops per 500 ml of liquid. It is necessary to keep the grains in the product for 5-7 hours.

After treatment with Epin, peas bear fruit more abundantly

sodium humate

Sodium humate is intended for pre-sowing treatment of seeds and helps to strengthen their endurance and resistance to fungal infections. After soaking in the working solution, the peas will not only germinate faster in the garden, but will not suffer from root rot, fusarium and black leg.

To prepare the product, you need to dilute about 1 mg of the active ingredient in 500 liter of water. Peas in the preparation are kept until the shell swells, usually it takes about six hours to process.

Sodium humate increases crop resistance to drought

Rhizotorphin

A natural bean fertilizer can be used before planting peas. Usually, only 1 g of the drug is taken per 1,5 kg of seeds and diluted in warm water at room temperature.

It is recommended to keep the kernels in liquid for no more than an hour, the procedure is carried out directly on the day of planting. If the peas are very dry, they can be pre-softened in ordinary water, and only then immersed in a biologically active solution.

Rizotorfin enhances pea immunity to fungal diseases and stimulates root formation

Boric acid

If purchased drugs to protect against fungi and stimulate growth are not at hand, you can use household products. Boric acid has a good effect.

To soak peas, it is necessary to dilute about 10 g of the substance in 2 liters of water, the temperature of the liquid should be 40 degrees. The kernels are immersed in the solution for only five minutes, and then removed, dried and sown in the ground.

Boric acid provides planting material with useful substances and serves as a prevention of fungi

Why seeds don’t germinate in water

When sown dry, pea seeds often do not produce abundant seedlings. But sometimes, even when soaked in water, the grains do not germinate, despite the well-performed processing. If the peas are in the liquid for a long time, and there is no effect from this, the reasons may be the following:

• the kernels are too old and completely dry;
• planting material has deteriorated as a result of improper storage;
• grains stale in the water and died;
• the soaking liquid was not changed, and as a result, it soured along with the peas.

Seed producers usually carefully monitor the quality of the material. But sometimes in stores you can find defective batches of grains. In such cases, pea kernels do not germinate when soaked, although they look healthy and have normal shelf life.

How to understand that peas have sprouted enough

Soaking pea seeds before sowing is necessary for a limited time. If you keep the material in water longer than necessary, then the grains will simply die.

You can understand that it is time to extract the seeds from an ordinary liquid or biological solution by the following signs:

• the grains increased in size and acquired a rounded shape;
• the skin of the kernels smoothed out, and distinct folds and wrinkles disappeared on it;
• the shells of the grains cracked, and small white roots appeared.

In the latter case, peas can be removed from the solution without a doubt. The presence of roots means that the germinated kernels are completely ready for planting in the ground and will sprout as soon as possible.

When sowing, you need to be careful and deepen the peas so as not to break the sprouted sprouts.

Conclusion

You can soak peas before planting in warm or hot water, as well as in special solutions that increase the endurance of seeds and their resistance to diseases. It is not recommended to sow dry grains in open ground, since they will germinate for a very long time, and not all kernels will eventually sprout.