Which Seeds Should Be Presoaked Before Planting?

Best Seeds for Presoaking

• Generally, seeds that have a tough or hard seed coat will benefit most from presoaking. Beans, corn, peas, beets, lupins, moonflowers, morning glories, sweet peas and nasturtium all have hard coats and may germinate faster if you soak them for 24 hours. For improved germination, nick your seeds with a sharp knife before soaking. Place your seeds in a jar and cover them with tap water. Let them soak for 24 hours and plant as recommended.

Presoaking Smaller Seeds

• Place smaller seeds in a squirt bottle filled with water to soak them then you can squirt them out of the bottle directly into the soil. While smaller, softer seeds have a naturally faster germination speed than hard-coated seeds and do not necessarily need to be soaked, an informal study published by rain.org suggests that presoaking soft seeds will increase not only the rate of germination, but may also increase the health and sturdiness of the seedling.