Hello Hive.
Have you planted some vegetables seeds before and noticed that they couldn't germinate? If yes, follow me on this blog to learn about a thing or two that can be of help.
While I had planted varieties of vegetables in my home garden and some are really flourishing like we have some water leaves here
The water leaves are producing more flowers and seeds which I have been picking up and replanting in order to enlarge it's quantity, water leave seeds aren't grow in the market hence I need to utilize the seeds available here in order to grow more and enlarge the quantity of water leave veggies I have.
The jute mallow has outperformed the other veggies and is developing very fast and fine.
The tomatoes are growing really fast too both the ones planted in sac and the ones in the field.
There are some practices we can employ when planting our vegetables to ensure that they germinate properly. You must have bought some quality seeds at one time or the other only to realize that these seed couldn't germinate after been planted. This has also been my experience in the past two weeks when I have planted some Lagos spinach here. I have resulted to planting only Lagos spinach since the other species of African spinach often gives so much challenges.(It is usually infected by insects and other crawling animals like lizard and snails here enjoy feasting on it. After each successful planting and germination those challenges wouldn't let my veggies last past the first 3weeks before they consume everything)
Germination of this veggies seeds is not meant to take more than 7days. But after planting this for more than 2weeks of without seeing any sign of them germinating I knew that something was wrong. Lacking idea on what to do I had retired to the Agricultural seed store to purchase more seeds and to make enquiries.
There was the mystery unfold. There is a whole lot to learn about gardening from
- Knowing the right seed to plant
- The proper time to plant seeds
- The soil requirements (soil profile and fertility status)
- Temperature of the soil
From the seed store I have gathered some information about why the planted spinach couldn't germinate and what I need to do to improve the quality of my seeds
Some vegetables seeds are very fragile that they need the best conditions in order to germinate.
While other seeds are are hard and needs some special treatment before they can germinate.
For my very fragile Lagos spinach seeds this is what I was taught to do. Prior to planting one can prepare the land for a period of 7days.
First steps is to break the soil loose. Your vegetables bed must not be hard, hence the need to break all the soil particles loose and free the bed of stones.
Next we are meant to regulate the soil temperature for about a week as I have learnt. After breaking the soil, watering should be done morning and evening for a week period. This will keep the bed in a cooler and better temperature for the seeds
Addition of compost manure or animal dung is important before planting to improve the soil fertility. When animal dungs is to be used ensure that it is applied for about a week or two before planting. This ensures that the manure mixed well with the soil and some pests and insects gets destroyed before introducing our veggies.
This particular Lagos spinach seed is very fragile and if I want it to germinate I must follow all the processes mentioned.
Having cleared the portion I want to plant the veggies I had meticulously followed all the guide giving and planted a new set of seeds.
The countdown begins today to watch for the Viability and germination of my seeds. For the other stubborn and strong seeds like that of okra, there are equally guideline on how to plant them which I will be sharing with the community as well.