A Radical Sprouting Experiment

I did a little experiment with sprouting cucumber seeds in soil blocks. In the left half of the tray, I put the radical (root side) down and on the right side I put the radical (root side) up.

 

 

 

For a long time now, I have noticed that old weak seed has difficulty pushing the hard seed coat off the leaves once the seedling emerges from the soil (the picture I drew demonstrates what often happens with old weak seed). 

 

 

 

 

 

This is why, contrary to what many others say, I always plant my Cucurbit seedlings with the radical at least partially up and the hard seed coat down so that the leaves can pull from the seed coat in the moist soil prior to emergence.