Experience in soaking, sowing and caring for spring rice seedlings

(Baonghean) -Soaking and incubating seeds seems simple, but in every production season, there are many cases of spoiled soaked and incubated seeds for many different reasons. In addition to the cause of poor seed quality, there are common causes such as: Soaking seeds without enough water (not soaking in water for enough time) so the seeds do not absorb enough water to convert starch into sugar to promote germination. On the contrary, soaking seeds for too long will cause the endosperm to rot, the starch to ferment, and the whole seed will rot.

There are also many cases where the seeds are soaked in enough water, but when incubated, they are severely damaged. These are cases where the seeds are not seen to sprout or have sprouted but the percentage of sprouted seeds is very low. This is a common case in the spring crop, because when incubating the seeds, they are not covered with a tight cabinet, and the outdoor air temperature is too low (from 160C or below), so when incubating the seeds, they are not warm enough for the sprouts to develop into seedlings.

There are also cases where seeds after incubation have short roots and long sprouts or long roots and short sprouts. This is because before incubation, the seeds are not yet saturated with water (lack of water), so the sprouts are long and the roots are short, or when incubating, the seeds are compressed too tightly and not stirred, so the seeds lack air to breathe, and from there, the problem of short sprouts and long roots occurs....

To overcome the above shortcomings, farmers are requested to implement the following measures:

- Seeds before soaking and incubation: need to be dried in light sunlight for 1 - 2 hours to increase water absorption capacity.

- Seeds when soaked: In the spring, the time for soaking seeds is often very cold, with air temperatures from 17, 180C or lower. Therefore, the ability of seeds to absorb water is very slow. Therefore, seeds in the spring should be soaked in warm water at 540C (3 boiling + 2 cold) so that the seeds can absorb water quickly and also have the effect of killing fungi and bacteria parasitic on the rice husk. The amount of water when soaking is on average 1.5 liters of water per kg of seeds.

- Soaking time and soaking technique: Soak in warm water 540C (3 boiling + 2 cold) for 5-6 hours, then take out the seeds, wash them, and replace them with clean water to continue soaking. During the soaking time, change the water every 5-6 hours and soak for about 28-30 hours. After soaking, take out the seeds, wash them thoroughly, and when there is no foul smell, put them in a basket, tray, etc. to incubate.

During the incubation process, regular checks must be made by:

If your hand is dry when dipping into the incubation basket, immediately spray water on it and stir the seeds again to ensure they have enough moisture.

If your hands get wet or slimy when dipping into the seed incubation basket or tray, you must immediately wash off the slime on the seeds with water and then continue to incubate the seeds. If you do not wash the seeds in time, the seeds will not germinate and will rot.

If you dip your hand into the middle of the seed tray or basket and it feels cold, you need to spray warm water on the seeds and mix well to create conditions for the seeds to germinate.

If you see that the seeds have germinated, but the sprouts are long and the roots are short, you must spray more water on them and stir the seeds, then continue to incubate. On the contrary, if you see that the sprouts are too short and the roots are too long, you must stir the seeds from the inside out, from the outside in, from top down, from bottom up to provide enough oxygen for the sprouts to grow.

During the incubation process, if the seed sprouts are 2/3 the length of the root, then it is time to sow them in the field.

When sowing, the rice field must be free of weeds, the soil must be plowed thoroughly, the bed surface must be leveled, the bed must be 1.2 - 1.4 meters wide, when sowing, sow evenly and throw the seeds gently so that the seeds are 2/3 deep into the soil.

After sowing, cover the seedling bed with plastic and regularly keep the soil and seedling bed moist and free of cracks.

When the seedlings have 2.5 - 3 leaves, they can be transplanted. 3 - 5 days before transplanting, the plastic covering the seedlings must be gradually opened so that the seedlings can be exposed to and gradually get used to the unfavorable external conditions, in order to increase the resistance of the seedlings to unfavorable weather.

Doan Tri Tue