Most experienced gardeners and truck farmers know what stratification is. Seeds that have undergone this preliminary preplanting treatment give a much higher percentage of shoots. In this case, plants grown from them, are highly resistant to external factors. So what is stratification? Seeds bought in the store or collected from plants grown in the garden must be prepared for sowing in a special way. This method of processing the planting material is that it is placed in a cold and moist environment for a certain period of time (before pecking the seeds). For different plant species, a different stratification is required. Seeds of different cultures require 1 to 8 months of pre-plant preparation.
As a rule, at home, stratification is carried out in the following way: a mixture of peat and sand is poured into a small container, onto which seeds are placed, and a sand-peat mixture is sprinkled on top of them again. So the layers alternate until the container is completely filled. Stratification of flower seeds can be carried out with the help of sawdust of hardwood trees in small bags. The height of the container should be 10-15 cm, because otherwise there is a risk of uneven germination. The prepared planting material is watered with water, then carefully packed in a polyethylene (cellophane) bag and placed in a cold place where the air temperature should be from 0 to +5 ° C. Most often, the stratification of seeds at home is carried out in the refrigerator. Due to the uniform temperature throughout the processing period of the planting material, the shoots are kept very close. During stratification, it is necessary to monitor the moisture content of the substrate. It should be about 70%. Do not overfill it with water, as this degrades the quality of the planting material. Most often, the substrate should be watered with soft water once every 14-16 days.
What is stratification? Seeds of many plants crumble to the ground long before the fall. At this time, many of them try to germinate before the onset of cold weather, but most of the young seedlings die with their offensive. To preserve planting material, it is necessary to create optimal conditions for storage, after which, under favorable conditions, they begin to develop very quickly. Thus, the collected seeds are stored for some time in dry and cool conditions. With the onset of cold weather, they are moistened and sent for a certain period in a humid and cool environment (in the refrigerator). After such treatment, getting in spring in favorable conditions with enough heat and light, seeds actively germinate, and young seedlings quickly grow.
When pre-planting the material, do not forget about its sorting. Must be an ordered stratification. Seeds in plastic bags must be labeled, which for a long period of storage should not lose the name of culture and variety. It is impossible to stratify the planting material of different cultures in one tank, as it can easily mix, which will create certain difficulties in the future.