By Joseph Mugenyi
Kibiito: To all our farmers planning to buy seeds for planting this season, note the following;
A number of plants e.g. vegetables, herbs, annuals can be grown from seeds.
Seeds are easy to get at a relatively good price from agro dealers.
Like people, seeds while planted resemble the parent, so always be careful while buying packed seeds on market.
Some seeds are packed while already treated to avoid diseases that could attack them.
This makes them resistant.
Check for the expiry date before buying them.
Some seed varieties could be meant for 2 growing seasons. So when planted after this time you may not get positive results.
Keep the seeds in a cool dry place because those seeds have life and need to live upto the planting period. (some farmers didn’t no this)
Soaking of seeds.
This is a technique used to fasten germination of crops.
Water is added to the seeds placed in any bottle for 8-12 hours not exceeding 24 hours depending on the seed coat hardness.
Soaking is usually done to hard coated seeds like beans, maize etc.
This will help soften the coat and hence fasten the germination process when planted.
This usually helps alot in crops like green paper which take long to germinate in a nursery bed.
Normally green paper take 40-50 days to be transplanted from a nursery bed but if soaked, the seeds to take atleast 30-40 days to be transplanted.
When you soak for along time, seeds rot.
Some seeds need light others need darkness.
Those that need light can be put on top of the garden soil whereas those that need darkness, cover the seeds with soil.
You can choose planting seeds either using a nursery bed or plant them directly into the garden.
Some crops like green paper should strictly be planted first in a nursery bed because of the long period taken before transplanting.
Nice planting season to all farmers.
Get all the agricultural information here bi-weekly.Mugenyi Joseph (MJ Farmer) is a practicing Agribusiness entrepreneur based in Kibiito and a software Engineering student at Makerere University. He can be reached on 0701-443309, Email:mugenyijosemj@gmail.com
