No wonder they say: what you sow, so you reap. To get a large harvest, you need to plant only high-quality seeds. Before sowing, they must be disinfected so that later they do not face problems, since pathogens of various diseases can be found in the seeds.

Technology for rejection of empty seeds in water

If the seeds were bought in a specialized store, they have already been graded and sorted by quality before packaging. But home ones need to be sorted. Leave only large and high quality ones. Deformed seeds and specimens with a color that does not correspond to the variety must be discarded. To separate the pacifiers, you need to soak them in salt water (you don't need to add a lot of salt, about 1/2 teaspoon of salt per 100 ml of water). After 10-15 minutes, the hollow seeds will float to the surface. They must be disposed of. Rinse and dry the rest. You can get a good harvest from them.

On a note! Only seeds 1-2 years old can be tested in this way. The rest will all pop up.

Storage and germination

If you had a chance to buy a stock of the cherished bags, but you can't plant everything, sooner or later the question arises: can you use old seeds? How will age affect their development? And what will the harvest be? In what conditions should they be stored and for how many years?

How to store?

How to plant cucumber seeds

If the seeds are perfectly ripe and well dried, then the metabolic processes in the seed slow down, it falls into a dormant stage. Cucumber seeds can remain viable for about 6-7 years.

Important! It is best to use planting material for planting two to three years old.

Then their germination gradually decreases, but more female-type flowers appear. Although some may ascend in ten years. Not germinating grains are obtained due to high humidity. Therefore, fresh them must be well dried on a cloth or paper that absorbs moisture well, for example, on napkins or newspaper sheets. Dry them in the shade and in a well-ventilated area. You cannot dry seeds on a radiator or on a stove - it is so easy to dry them out.

The seed coat absorbs moisture well. Therefore, in order to preserve them, they must be placed in a dry room at a stable temperature. The optimum temperature is plus 12-15 degrees and humidity is not more than sixty percent.

Warming up and treatment with growth stimulants

Should you soak processed cucumber seeds?

As it was already found out, the post-harvest ripening of the seed lasts more than a year, and those cucumber seeds that have an aging of more than 3 years are more productive. To age them, you need to thoroughly warm them up in hot water for 5 - 6 hours, the water temperature is about 50-60 degrees. You can warm it up in the sun for a week, stirring them constantly. Or near a stove or radiator for a month.

It must be thoroughly warmed up in hot water

The use of biostimulants has a very good effect on getting good seedlings and harvest in the future. Let's consider some of them

  • "Baikal EM 1-1" - contains nutrients that stimulate plant growth. It also has protective properties against many diseases. After its application, the plants must still be fed with potassium and nitrogen fertilizers;
  • "Agat - 25K" is a paste, in a solution of which seeds are treated before sowing. 5-7 grams of paste are dissolved in one liter of water and the seeds are soaked for three hours;
  • The seeds can also be treated with "Ambiol", "Bigus" and other preparations.

The use of biostimulants must be approached responsibly. An overabundance of certain substances will lead to the opposite effect: instead of protecting the plants, they may die.

If there are no purchased biostimulants, then you can use natural ones. It:

  • Nettle infusion. It is necessary to pour the leaves and stalks of the nettle with water and let it ferment for ten days. Use the resulting infusion, as well as a store biostimulant;
  • Yeast. Fifty grams of dry yeast - half a liter of water;
  • Honey. One teaspoon per glass of water;
  • Scarlet juice. It is necessary to grind the aloe leaves and mix with water in a one-to-one ratio. Let it brew for twelve hours. For a month - one and a half before sowing, process the seeds in the resulting infusion.

Shelf life of cucumber seeds, germination test

How to germinate cucumber seeds

How to determine the germination capacity of cucumber seeds? The period when life processes have not died out is confused by many with the implementation period indicated on the package.

In sawdust

There are many methods for germinating cucumber seeds that can be germinated on:

  • filtered paper;
  • in sawdust;
  • in a paper roll.

Germination on paper

A couple of filter discs must be well moistened. Seeds are placed between them, which must be counted in order to find out the percentage of germination. Discs are placed on a shallow plate and stored in a warm place. As it dries, it is necessary to moisten the paper with water so that it does not dry out.

After 3-4 days, those seeds will hatch, which have the highest germination energy, which is equal to the percentage of germinated seeds to their total number during this period of time. These will be the strongest and highest-yielding individuals. According to the seeds that will sprout in 6-7 days, determine the percentage of the total number of planted seeds. The test sample that has sprouted less than sixty percent is not profitable.

High percentage of the ratio

Seed germination test in sawdust

First, the sawdust must be poured with boiling water in order to kill all possible pathogens in them. Then pour into the container with a layer of 5-6 centimeters and spread the counted cucumber seeds on them. Cover the top with steamed sawdust 2-3 centimeters thick, tamp lightly and cover with a transparent film on top to keep moisture. The container is placed in the sun. The temperature should be maintained at about twenty-five to twenty-six degrees. Then everything is repeated, as in the method described above.

Determination of the vital functions of seeds in a paper roll

2-3 layers of toilet paper, ten by one hundred centimeters, must be slightly moistened. Departing from the edge of 3 centimeters, spread the seeds in one row. Cover with the same sheet of paper and roll up with a loose tube. Place vertically in a suitable container. Then the whole procedure is repeated as described above: moisten, wait for the allotted time and check the germination of seeds.

If you collect, dry and store the planting material correctly, you can get friendly shoots, and then fruits.