How to improve the germination rate of flower seeds? Master these little tips

During flower cultivation, you often run into this problem: when you sow certain flower seeds, very few seedlings come up, or none come up at all. To improve the seedling emergence rate of flowers, here are a few little tips for you. Let's take a look!

1 Understand the characteristics of the seeds

This includes the temperature, humidity, light and soil they need for germination, and it is very important. For example: German primrose (Primula obconica) must not be soaked, as soaking makes it lose viability; the seeds of Persian buttercup (Ranunculus asiaticus) like low temperatures, and the seedling-raising temperature should be around 8°C - above 12°C they are very hard to sprout; seeds such as petunia (Petunia hybrida) need to be germinated at around 25°C, and if they are soaked and then left in a cold place for 1-2 days, the seeds may rot and fail to sprout. Some seeds are light-loving, while others are light-avoiding, and good seedlings can only be grown under suitable environmental conditions.

2 Choosing the seedling container

For the seedling container, it is best to choose a rigid plastic seedling box 50-60 cm long, 30-40 cm wide and 8-10 cm high, with many small holes in the bottom. You can make one yourself from wooden boards, with the size determined by the sowing quantity; the height should not be too great. If it is too high and holds a lot of soil, it will not dry out easily after prolonged waterlogging; if it holds little soil, the extra height of the four walls will block the light. The finished seedling box should have drainage holes punched in the bottom, and before use it must be soaked in water for 2-3 days until thoroughly soaked, otherwise the box and the soil will easily separate.

3 Choosing the substrate

Substrate ratio: mix thoroughly decomposed, sieved barnyard manure, leaf mould, fine sand and garden soil in a ratio of 2:1:1:1, sift through a sieve fine enough to let sorghum grains pass, and sterilise it by drying it in the sun for one day.

4 Key points to note when sowing

Sowing method: put the seeds and fine sand in a basin at a ratio of 1:1500 and mix them well, then scatter them evenly over fine soil, and immediately press lightly on the fine soil with a smooth wooden board - do not press firmly, just enough to bring the seeds and fine soil into contact. Finally, place the seedling box in water to soak, with the water level not higher than the soil surface, adding water as it soaks until it is thoroughly soaked. Take the thoroughly soaked seedling box out of the water, cover it with a glass pane to retain moisture (do not use plastic film, as it drips easily and damages the seedlings), drain slightly, and immediately move it to an environment suitable for seed germination.

This depends on the variety: fast ones germinate in 4-5 days, while slow ones take 7-10 days to germinate. Once the seeds germinate, remove the glass pane, and after most of them have emerged, move them to a suitable place for growing on. It is worth noting that when the true leaves of the flowers have not exceeded 2, you must never spray water on them from above.