# Seed priming results



## saidtheblueknight (Jul 10, 2019)

Wanted to do a small experiment regarding seed priming and seeing if it truly expedites the germination process. To be clear, this is not pre-germination which can be sometimes confused with seed priming.

This process is soaking the seeds in a tub of water for X amount of time prior to broadcasting onto the soil. I took a handful of my Lesco PRG and soaked it in a small container for 48 hours. Then after 2 days, I sowed this seed in a small container next to seed that I sowed fresh at the same time. Following this I watered both sides twice a day and see which ones come up first.

I am now exactly 3 days since seeding, and the half that was primed has almost 60% germination I can see lots of little green seedlings pop out. The other un-primed side has 0 germination.

I will continue to add to this post as things progress but so far it's looking good for seed priming.

Day 0 - just planted



Day 3: primed side has ~60% germination, non-primed side has 0% germination


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## Scagfreedom48z+ (Oct 6, 2018)

Great experiment. This might be a stupid questions but once the seed is soaked, do you dry it and then spread it? Not sure how it would work via a broadcast spreader.


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## uts (Jul 8, 2019)

Scagfreedom48z+ said:


> Great experiment. This might be a stupid questions but once the seed is soaked, do you dry it and then spread it? Not sure how it would work via a broadcast spreader.


Really interested in this. Also I'm assuming that was uncoated seed. How would a coated seed respond?


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## Gilley11 (Nov 3, 2019)

This is neat, def following. How to spread would be my question as well


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## NateDawg24 (Sep 11, 2019)

I just did something similar to prepare for my kbg overseed. I started soaking some seed in water the same day I put seed in a test pot. I soaked for 5 days and then put the soaked seed into another test pot. On day 7 I had germination in both which means the kbg germinated just 2 days after in the soil. The soaked seed pot has two to three times as many seedlings now at day 13. I didn't count the seeds or weigh them though so it is possible the soaked seed pot had more seeds put in.

Needless to say I am soaking all of the seed that I am overseeding. I'm not sure how to spread either I have read that you can mix it with organic fertilizer or sand or something similar to that. I will probably mix with some sand and I am just hand spreading as it is only 2000 square feet. I dislike the broadcast spreader for seed anyways as I end up getting seed in the plant beds


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## dicko1 (Oct 25, 2019)

Spreading wet seed is tough. They stick together. You have to dry it all before it will spread evenly. Thats tough to do in a reasonable amount of time. You have to spread it on a flat surface so air can get to all the seeds.

What I usually do when I prime seeds is to split the seeds into a large "main" pile and a much smaller "pre-soak" pile.

I first pre-soak a small batch of seeds two days before I soak the main pile of seeds. Hence, the pre-soak seeds are in the water for a longer time than the main pile. When the "pre-soak" seeds sprout, I know I have 2 days until the main seeds sprout. So I know when I plant the main pile of seeds, they'll sprout in 2 days.


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## Utk03analyst (Jun 8, 2019)

I tried something similar, soaked TTTF seed for a week in burlap and changed the water daily. Mixed wet seed with dry sand. The sand to seed ratio is literally a ton of sand with a little seed to be able to spread the wet seed. It started germinating over night and was almost an inch tall in 2 days.

It definitely works and is easier to spread by hand. It's nice to do by hand for small bare spots or slopes.


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## saidtheblueknight (Jul 10, 2019)

Yes, after I soaked the seed I spread it all out on an even layer and let it dry out completely. At that point, it was as easy to spread as the original seed.

The reason I mentioned it wasn't pre-germination is because once you get to that point, you can't really dry out the seed for spreading as it will die. You have to sow it wet which as mentioned is tough. By only priming it, you can theoretically dry it out and put it back in the bag and sow it months later.

Update day 4: the un-primed side did see some germination, it's only about 30-40%. The primed side has almost full germination and the seedlings are about half an inch tall.

To me, it seems like the time spent in water is the difference in the results...which makes sense. The primed seed spent 2 days in water so it had a 2 day head start. So not crazy results, but it sure was easier to keep the seed wet in the container for 2 days than it would have been to keep it wet out in the yard for those 2 days.


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## uts (Jul 8, 2019)

I think something like milorganite/xgrn or xstart will be a good addition to this, if you are planning to put it through a spreader... put some sand in it as well and you have an ideal mixture to spread.


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## ThickAndGreen (Sep 8, 2017)

Love this idea. Also narrows the window for a seed washout.


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## SJ Lawn (May 7, 2018)

FYI - https://archive.lib.msu.edu/tic/holen/article/1993jul20.pdf

Doug Brede, Ph.D., has been research director for Jacklin Seed by Simplot for over 30 years.

Developer of top performing cultivars in the US/Canadian National Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP) trials for Kentucky bluegrass and creeping bentgrass.
• Breeder of 4-Season, Absolute, Action, Alexa, Alexa II, Arcadia, Ashland, Award, Awesome, Barrister, Beyond, BlueChip, BlueChip Plus, BlueMoon, Caliber, Camas, Chicago, Chicago II, Courtyard, Dawn, Destiny, Everest, EverGlade, Excursion, Explorer, Freedom, Freedom II, Freedom 3, Front Page, Ginney, Ginney II, Granite, Huntsville, Impact, Jackpot, Liberty, Liberator, NuBlue, NuBlue Plus, NuChicago, NuDestiny, NuGlade, NuStar, Odyssey, Perfection, Quartz, Quantum Leap, Rambo, Rugby II, Rush, Solar Eclipse, Sudden Impact, Suffolk, Total Eclipse, Tsunami, and My Holiday Lawn brand Kentucky bluegrass.


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## greencare (Sep 14, 2019)

ThickAndGreen said:


> Love this idea. Also narrows the window for a seed washout.


Yes! I have a bare sloped area that might benefit from this. One rain and the seeds wash away, even if I put soil on top.


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## saidtheblueknight (Jul 10, 2019)

ThickAndGreen said:


> Love this idea. Also narrows the window for a seed washout.


Definitely. I took out a seedling after 3 days on the ground and it had a long root in the ground already. Might not be able to hold it well on a steep slope, but it's definitely better than bare seed that can easily be washed away.


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

I wonder if birds find it less palatable once soaked and near germinated. I lose so many seeds to the damn birds.

Also the article talks about aeration. @saidtheblueknight did you do that? Wonder how much benefit that adds.

Surely you can mix the wet seed with dry sand, apply via spreader, and then immediately soak the ground to prevent harming the seed via dessication? I assume the seed has to be dry for a period of time to 
dry out and die.


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## SJ Lawn (May 7, 2018)

From Milorganite's website: https://www.milorganite.com/professionals/golf-athletic-fields/turf-establishment/pre-germinating-seed


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## DiabeticKripple (Apr 14, 2019)

davegravy said:


> I wonder if birds find it less palatable once soaked and near germinated. I lose so many seeds to the damn birds.
> 
> Also the article talks about aeration. @saidtheblueknight did you do that? Wonder how much benefit that adds.
> 
> ...


Cover the seed with a 1/8"-1/4" layer of peat moss to keep the birds off the seeds. It also helps the seeds stay wet.


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## uts (Jul 8, 2019)

SJ Lawn said:


> From Milorganite's website: https://www.milorganite.com/professionals/golf-athletic-fields/turf-establishment/pre-germinating-seed


Thank you for this. I will also look into xstart for the same. Seems like fall renovation has another step added to it. Lol

@saidtheblueknight how is the germination looking between the two?


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## saidtheblueknight (Jul 10, 2019)

uts said:


> @saidtheblueknight how is the germination looking between the two?


Well as of day 6, the unprimed side has caught up in terms of top growth (and presumably root growth also). If I didn't know which side was which, I would not be able to tell just from looking at it which side was primed or not.

So in the end, this goes to show that the end results will be the same...however priming the seed does make it germinate slightly faster and thus would help with any erosion or lack of watering ability.


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

This was a really cool test. Thanks for sharing your results.


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Wonder if the results would be similar for kbg where there's a really long time to germination typically.


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## greencare (Sep 14, 2019)

I'm curious, did you turn the soil with seed in it, or did you just sprinkle seeds on the top and water?


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## saidtheblueknight (Jul 10, 2019)

davegravy said:


> Wonder if the results would be similar for kbg where there's a really long time to germination typically.


Yes definitely, and this method would have a bigger impact on slow germinating seeds like KBG vs ryegrass as in this example. The unprimed PRG in my experiment came in after 3 days on it's own, so it didn't really need any priming. But when KBG takes 21 days to germinate, if you cut that in half with priming then it would make a big deal.


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## saidtheblueknight (Jul 10, 2019)

greencare said:


> I'm curious, did you turn the soil with seed in it, or did you just sprinkle seeds on the top and water?


Nope, I just sprinkled the seed on top of the soil and used an old flat plastic spatula to press it down firmly. Then just used a spray bottle to keep it moist.


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## BobRoss (Jul 3, 2019)

I wonder if this is a good way to overseed some KBG. If you could drastically decrease the germination period of the seed on the ground, you should be able to get some good growth before the lawn outgrows it. I think I am going to try this in the fall with some KBG. The idea of mixing Milo in to help spreads seems like a great idea too.


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## KoopHawk (May 28, 2019)

@davegravy glad you asked 

I did a similar test with Bluebank KBG in my garage with a very small amount of seed. Stable temperature of 58 degrees. Used the aerator from my minnow bucket in the water. I didn't take enough pictures but here is a summary. As you can see soaking the seed for 5+ days cut germination time by 3-4 days. Initial germination was 2-3 seeds popping up. Moderate was 10+. Not super scientific but gives you a pretty good idea.


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## saidtheblueknight (Jul 10, 2019)

KoopHawk said:


> @davegravy glad you asked
> 
> I did a similar test with Bluebank KBG in my garage with a very small amount of seed. Stable temperature of 58 degrees. Used the aerator from my minnow bucket in the water. I didn't take enough pictures but here is a summary. As you can see soaking the seed for 5+ days cut germination time by 3-4 days. Initial germination was 2-3 seeds popping up. Moderate was 10+. Not super scientific but gives you a pretty good idea.


Thanks for the results, quite a bit more scientific than mine.

How did you end up drying the seed? That's my biggest hurdle now, figuring out how to dry out the seed enough to be spreadable in a spreader but not enough to possibly kill it. In my small test, I did not dry it out much just enough to handle...but it would need more to be able to broadcast it as usual.

If not, the only thing this would be useful for is spot seeding small areas, not broadcast for overseeding.


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## KoopHawk (May 28, 2019)

saidtheblueknight said:


> KoopHawk said:
> 
> 
> > @davegravy glad you asked
> ...


I haven't seeded yet. My irrigation system is actually getting installed as I type! I think if you would let it drip dry from the cheesecloth and mix 1 part seed to 4 parts milo in a bucket and shake it up that would dry it enough to broadcast then water in ASAP. Doing small sections would probably be doable.


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

KoopHawk said:


> @davegravy glad you asked
> 
> I did a similar test with Bluebank KBG in my garage with a very small amount of seed. Stable temperature of 58 degrees. Used the aerator from my minnow bucket in the water. I didn't take enough pictures but here is a summary. As you can see soaking the seed for 5+ days cut germination time by 3-4 days. Initial germination was 2-3 seeds popping up. Moderate was 10+. Not super scientific but gives you a pretty good idea.


Very cool! Wonder if this technique combined with PGR could make overseeding KBG viable.


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## KoopHawk (May 28, 2019)

Update on the seed priming. I soaked about 7 pounds of KBG seed for what turned out to be 13 days. A lot longer than I wanted to but I split it into two cheesecloth sacks and changed the water every 12 hours or so in 5 gallon buckets. The night before seed down I emptied the water and let the water run out. I flipped the bags over in the morning to even out the moisture. I ended up mixing 7 pounds with 32 pounds of milo plus the little dry seed milo mix that was left in my spreader. I mixed it in a clean garbage can and I t mixed and spread very well. I kept a little wet seed and dry seed to see if there was any germination difference in a controlled setting. The wet seed started to come up a day or so before the dry seed so it really didn't make much of a difference. It has also been historically hot so that probably ramped up the germination of the seed.


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## coolturf (Mar 11, 2020)

SJ Lawn said:


> FYI - https://archive.lib.msu.edu/tic/holen/article/1993jul20.pdf
> 
> Doug Brede, Ph.D., has been research director for Jacklin Seed by Simplot for over 30 years.
> 
> ...


Thanks @SJ Lawn just printed this to add to the library. 
Thanks @KoopHawk for the KBG update.
And thanks to @saidtheblueknight for the topic.
I have a small KBG renovation planned for the fall and definitely will be looking into this further.


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Very cool! I can't get milo up here in Canada, hoping this works just as well with sand.


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## Shindoman (Apr 22, 2018)

I did a similar thing this year. My FF/Colonial Bent blend typically needs 14 to 21 days to germinate. I soaked my seed in 1 part Humic Acid/ 4 parts water for overnight. Dried the seed by spreading out on a tarp. Then seeded. I actually started to see some germination after just 7 days. Seems to be all the rage lately.


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