Not everybody has heard about seed treating, but it is extremely important. In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency of the United States has spent an extensive amount of time preparing all kinds of information to help people properly treat their seeds!
At first, it can feel daunting to jump into the world of seed treating. This important development in agricultural processes has taken a lot of time to fine-tune. It can take a little time and research to learn enough about seed treating to apply it to your own plants.
So how can you get started on treating your seeds? Read on to learn all about the benefits of seed treating and how you can get started!
Treated Seeds vs Untreated
Planted in just any soil, many seeds will fall prey to soil-borne threats. The treated seed definition refers to seeds that have pesticides or other materials applied to them to help them fight off such threats. The treating process can make a huge difference!
Many of the strongest pathogens that destroy plants occur early in the season. Not only can seed treatment help protect individual seeds, but it can also help keep such pathogens from spreading through the soil.
On top of that, some kinds of seed treatment can protect plants from insects.
The end result of seed treating is clear. Plants that receive seed treating provide more consistent yields. That leads to increases in profits and decreases in insurance premiums.
How to Start Treating Seeds
The first thing to do before you treat seeds is clean them. You want to avoid as much foreign contaminant as possible on the seed.
Once the seed is ready, you can then test it, or send it to a lab for testing. This will help you to find out what pathogens may or may not be in the seed.
Before you move on to seed treatment, you will then need to make sure that the seeds are warm and dry. Otherwise, the treatment may not function correctly.
Once all of this is taken care of, you can treat your seeds. Most box seed treaters will require you to first mix your seeds treatment. These DIY seed treaters will also require you to calibrate your equipment.
What Comes Next?
In some cases, you will later apply a secondary treatment. If that is the case, then the seed treatment you buy should indicate how to proceed at that point.
If your seed treatment system does not include secondary treatment, then you can move on. Before you plant your seeds, it is important that you give enough time for the treatment to properly dry on the seed. Otherwise, you can run into a number of problems.
First, the treatment might not take properly. Second, if the treatment is still wet, then your seeds can stick together. This can interfere with properly distributing them throughout your soil.
Make sure that you clean all of your seed treating equipment after use. Some seed treatments apply only to certain crops. You don’t want to accidentally contaminate crops with the residue of old seed treatments used on different seeds.
In particular, it is important to remember that commercial grain products cannot be treated with these kinds of seed treatments.
If you are looking to make seed treatment a regular part of your planting process, then you will need to carefully take account of the results. Done wrong, the seed treatment process can lead to an excessive number of cracked seeds.
Before you plant your first crop of treated seeds, examine them closely to discover any cracks in them. Although a few cracks are acceptable and inevitable, if you find too many cracks, then you may need to fine-tune your seed treating process.
Potential Disadvantages of Seed Treatment
Seed treatment is a powerful technology. As we have already discussed, it is a great way to increase yields and protect your crops from pathogens and insects. At the same time, it is not the perfect solution for every problem.
If your problem cannot be solved by seed treatment, then you don’t want to waste time and money on something that won’t solve your problem. It is important to understand which problems can be solved with seed treatment, and which cannot.
In general, you should keep this in mind. Seed treatment can protect your seeds from outside threats. It cannot solve problems caused by inadequate water or care.
Different Kinds of Seed Treatments
Some of the most common kinds of seed treatments use fungicides and insecticides.
There are also other kinds of seed treatments. One of these is the microbial inoculant. These are often used in legumes, though they are also used for cereals.
They help to make sure that the amount of nitrogen that a plant has access to stays consistent.
In some cases, you can simply apply your fertilizer in a seed treatment. This is a great way to make sure that you are plants have adequate access to nutrients that can boost their growth.
Enjoy All of the Benefits of Proper Seeds Treating
We hope that you were able to take away something helpful from this brief article on a few of the ins and outs of seed treating. This important development in agricultural technology has revolutionized the industry. The more you know about this exciting technique, the more you can take advantage of it to improve the results of your own needs.
To learn more about seed treating and taking care of your plants, feel free to reach out and get in touch with us here at any time!