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How to Prepare seeds for Planting: Stratification, Soaking and Scarification

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Emma Gallagher is a Brit living in North Carolina. She grows organic gardens and... Read More

It’s so exciting, as a gardener, to get to that time of year when seeds start to go into the ground. Seeds come with all kinds of built-in mechanisms that promote optimal germination rates and protect from hungry creatures that wish to eat them.

Unless you are a gardener that lets your plants go to seed and self-sow, most seeds are bought in packets. This is common, and perfectly fine to do.

However, buying seeds that have been sitting in a warehouse or on the shelf in a garden center means that they might not have had the benefit of exposure to different environments that would naturally help their success.

Fortunately, there are some small and simple practices that every gardener can do to help their store-bought seeds have a better start in life.

Scarfiy Your Seeds

Source: Growit Buildit/YouTube

This might sound pretty brutal, but it is a gentle practice that can give seeds with particularly hard shells a better chance of germinating. This shell protects the seeds from germinating until conditions are just right.

Naturally, such seeds might have spent a whole season in the ground where moisture in the earth helped to break down the shell, or, by just being in the rough earth, natural scarification happened.

As well, many seeds are eaten by animals that pass the seeds, undigested, through their systems. Though the seeds have not been damaged, their thick outer shells will likely have been broken down somewhat.

If you are planting seeds at the recommended time for your USDA growing zone, you might need to give them a little help.

Sandpaper Method- One simple way to scarify your seeds is to use sandpaper. All you have to do is to rub the seeds a few times across the sandpaper. You don’t want to do this too much as you don’t want to damage the soft innards of the seed. Just a couple of swipes, until you see a color difference, should do the trick.
File Method- A second way is to use a file. This is much the same method as using sandpaper, but be aware that files are often much more abrasive. Don’t get carried away.
Pocket Knife- Another way, (though this might be asking for you to cut your finger, so BE CAREFUL) is to take a sharp knife and slice a tiny edge away from the seed. Don’t cut the seed in half. This is finicky, and not the ideal way!

Some common seeds that might benefit from a little scarification are nasturtiums, okra, bean seeds, milkweed, and many perennial plant seeds.

Soak Your Seeds

Source: MIgardener/YouTube

Another method for giving your seeds a head start is to give them a good soaking before planting them. In reality, it’s just another form of scarification as it involves breaking down the seed’s hard coating.

This practice is particularly useful for seeds with tough coatings such as peas, beans, and okra.

Presoaking these seeds helps to expedite the germination process as water does not so readily penetrate their hard coating.

Tomato, pepper, and seeds from the brassica family germinate very easily, so they wouldn’t need to be presoaked.

The great thing is that presoaking is super simple and hard to get wrong. Once you have identified the seeds that would benefit from presoaking, get yourself a shallow dish, add some water to it, and toss in your seeds.

The next step is to leave them to soak for a fair amount of time. One or two hours wouldn’t hurt, but you want to give them much longer so that they can soak up some of that water.

Leaving them overnight would be a great option. Don’t be shocked if your seeds have doubled in size after their soaking. This is a great sign.

Once they have soaked, plant them immediately. You can’t, at this point, restore them. They will just rot. Get them in the soil so that they can start growing.

Soaking seeds is also a great way to spot seeds that aren’t viable anymore. Check for ones that are floating after you have soaked them. These are likely no good, and you can chuck them out.

Cold Stratify Your Seeds

Source: Growit Builtit/YouTube

Another natural process that happens to many self-sowing seeds is the process of cold stratification. Some seeds, especially perennials, need to experience a frost/thaw cycle that helps prepare the seeds for germination in the spring.

As well, this freezing prevents the seeds from germination too early causing the seedling to ultimately die.

If you have bought seeds such as native wildflower seeds, they will likely need to go through cold stratification to increase their germination success.

You can do this by simply sowing the seeds outside in the fall so that they can experience the cold of winter naturally.

However, if you have missed your chance to do this, you can recreate the conditions yourself at home.

Paper Towel Method: Take a square piece of paper towel and dampen it with a spray bottle of water. Next, on one-quarter of the towel, sprinkle your seeds about one later deep. Fold the paper towel around the seeds so that they are enveloped. Put the paper towel into a ziplock bag and label it with the type of seed you have inside and the date. Then, keep the bag in the fridge for 4-6 weeks.
Sand Method: This is a good method for larger seeds as they are easier to pick out of the sand come planting time. Put some sand into a pot and spray it with water. Next, put a handful of sand into a ziplock bag and toss in some seeds. Shake everything around until the seeds are completely covered. Seal the bag, label it with the variety of seeds and the date, and keep it in the fridge for 4-6 weeks.

Once you are ready for planting, follow the instructions on the seed packet as normal.

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