The benefits of treating seed before sowing it

Pathogens can be removed from vegetable seed by treating it with hot water at 51°C for about half an hour. Bill Kerr explains this procedure as well as using trisodium phosphate to kill seed viruses.

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Very often, imported seed comes with a polymer coating that can be in a range of colours. The seed is often treated with products to control diseases and pests. However, the seed often also arrives without being treated, leaving it up to the grower or seed company to perform their own choice of treatments.

One good reason to apply a polymer is so that the seeds are visible in the trays, which makes it easy to see whether the sowing machine is not causing misses. I had clients who required me to apply polymer for this very reason, and it was easy to do. I got the required amount of polymer and water for a container of seed, put it in a plastic bag and shook it until all the seeds were coated, and then placed it on bags to dry in the shade.

Hot-water treatment can be used to eliminate pathogens from infected seed. In the case of Brassicas, I use hot-water treatment for clearing black rot and black leg pathogens from the seed.