You’ve never had a harvest like this: discover what to soak pepper seeds in before planting for the best results.

Proper seedling preparation is the key to a good harvest. Sometimes gardeners perform specific procedures before sowing seeds, such as soaking them in special solutions. This is particularly important for pepper seeds, which require treatment before planting. “Windows” explains how to correctly soak pepper seeds before transplanting.

Preparing Pepper Seeds for Planting

First and foremost, the seeds need to be thoroughly sorted. Spread them out on a flat surface and manually categorize them into large, medium, and small seeds. Seeds of medium size are ideal for planting. After this, you can begin the soaking process. Different solutions are used for various purposes.

How to Soak Pepper Seeds

One option is to soak the pepper seeds in a saline solution to separate the empty seeds. For this, mix 30 g of salt in 1 liter of water. Discard the seeds that float, and rinse and dry those that settle at the bottom.

To protect the seeds from fungal diseases, they can be soaked in a weak manganese solution for 10-15 minutes, then rinsed with water and thoroughly dried.

For the prevention of late blight, seeds are soaked in a salt solution for 12-24 hours, after which they are also rinsed with water and dried.

Another option is a soda solution. To prepare this, dissolve a teaspoon of baking soda in a glass of hot water, cool it to a warm temperature, and soak the seeds for 12-24 hours. Afterward, rinse and dry again.

You can also use a hydrogen peroxide solution by mixing it with water in a 1:10 ratio. Seeds should be kept in this solution for 6-8 hours.

How to Soak Pepper Seeds for Better Germination

To accelerate seed germination, you can lay them out on a damp cloth or paper towels, cover them, and maintain stable moisture. The air temperature should be no less than 25°C. In 7-14 days, the seeds will begin to germinate. Planting can be done with either swollen or germinated seeds.

Hardening Pepper Seeds

To increase the plants' resistance to temperature fluctuations, the seeds should be hardened. One method is to leave the seeds in a room with a temperature of -1°C for a day.

Another method involves alternating temperatures: during the day, keep the seeds in a warm room, and at night, move them to a cool place with a temperature of up to -2°C for 10 days. After hardening, the seeds need to be thoroughly dried.

These methods will help you obtain healthy and robust pepper seedlings for the upcoming harvest.