Saturday, March 27, 2010

Germinating cucumber seeds

cucumber seeds 

Another first attempt, cucumber. As anything else, the first always comes with anxiety, tremendous urge to know more and overwhelmed with anticipation. The seeds look sparkling clean, so very white.  I soaked them for 2 days and yet no sign of roots coming out. Most seeds would have the seed coats broken if soaked for a couple of days. I googled and found this  information at Plant info, pictures and care instructions for Cucumber Garden . DAYS TO GERMINATION ~ Average 8 days | Min 1 days | Max 101 days (186). There is real mystery in germination of cucumber given such a spread on possibility of days of germination, with average of 8 days, minimum of 1 day and maximum of 101 days over 186 observations.

I then change the seeds into little pots to give them a new place. 
 I religiously put a few drops of water 
into the little pots everyday.  
Still no sign after three weeks.
Then one day, I loosen up the soil. 
No seeds, 
all soil...

I am not going to give any guesses... But I definitely am back to the drawing board.


~ bangchik


Some notes:

The seed contains the embryo of the new plant, with a supply of food for the embryo until it has formed sufficient roots and leaves to obtain its own food. The food, endosperm, may be in the seed leaves or it may be outside the seed leaves and be absorbed when the seed germinates. To start germination, the seed leaves absorb water and swell, and the radicle emerges, followed by the plumule. For some seeds, their future germination response is affected by environmental conditions during seed formation; most often these responses are types of seed dormancy.

Water - is required for germination. Mature seeds are often extremely dry and need to take in significant amounts of water, relative to the dry weight of the seed, before cellular metabolism and growth can resume.

Oxygen - is required by the germinating seed for metabolism

Temperature - affects cellular metabolic and growth rates. Seeds from different species and even seeds from the same plant germinate over a wide range of temperatures. Seeds often have a temperature range within which they will germinate, and they will not do so above or below this range. Many seeds germinate at temperatures slightly above room-temperature 60-75 F (16-24 C),

Light or darkness - can be an environmental trigger for germination and is a type of physiological dormancy. Most seeds are not affected by light or darkness, but many seeds, including species found in forest settings, will not germinate until an opening in the canopy allows sufficient light for growth of the seedling.

~bangchik 

10 comments:

  1. Oh must do this way 1st... now I know.. thank you for the info.. ^_^

    ReplyDelete
  2. Temperature has a lot to do with it. Is it warm enough?

    ReplyDelete
  3. it sounds like the seeds rotted. i love the rice dish wrapped in banana leaves!

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  4. I hope these beautiful seeds will germinate soon. Thanks for those info. Have a wonderful weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  5. well, that sure gives you a RANGE of days! Hope you're patient!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Cath J
    Ribbit
    jaz@octoberfarm
    Stephanie
    Wendy

    this batch of cucumber seeds is our first. We will give another go. As suggested, we may put it in a warmer place with adequate light.

    We failed too with lettuce after a couple of attempts. As wendy said, we do have a range of days.

    ~bangchik
    Putrajaya, Malaysia

    ReplyDelete
  7. Try peat pots, most things in the curcurbit family dislike transplanting, and use bottom heat, mine love it and usually are up pretty quick. Bottom heat lets you get the soil warm without cooking the whole house!

    And good for you to not give up and to keep trying new ways!

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  8. I do not soak mine. I plant them straight into potting compost, standing them on edge on their long side. Mine stay in a heated propagator indoors but this would not be necessary if the weather is very warm. This method works well for me. I hope yours germinate soon :-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Lettuce prefers to be sown direct where it is to grow.
    What I like about cucumber once it's germinated is that it does very well outside, even in a cool summer, as long as it's kept well watered.

    ReplyDelete
  10. ~Lanny
    ~easygardener
    ~Scattered Gardener

    Thanks for your advice on how to get cucumber germinated. I will give it a rest for a while before going in for another try.

    ~bangchik
    Putrajaya, Malaysia

    ReplyDelete