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Observing growth

Let's sow some seeds and watch them start to grow
We sow a morning glory seed in May when the temperature reaches about 20 degrees Celsius. The reason why we wait until May is that the seeds do not germinate if they are too cold. The flowers bloom in the heat of July and August.

A sprout appears 4 to 5 days after we sow the seed. At first, you can see a bending white axis (hypocotyl), and the folded cotyledon (seed leaf) open in 2 to 3 days. Let's watch carefully how these changes begin.

1 The seed absorbs (sucks in) water from the soil, and the water makes the seed wake up and swell out. A root tip appears near the hollow (navel) of a seed after about 2 days.
2 The main root grows downward, deeper into the soil.
3 When a root grows longer, to about 2-3 cm, root hairs, which look like downy hair, are seen a little way from the tip of the root. These root hairs absorb water and nourishment from the soil.
4 Thick roots, called lateral (sideways) roots come out 2 to 3 days after the main root appears. The hypocotyl grows up, and it still has a bent neck near the top. During this period, the closely folded cotyledons inside the seed begin to open. They prepare to grow out of the side by breaking the seed coat.
Until this point, all of this activity has been going on in the soil, not on top of it.

5 You can see the hypocotyl and the cotyledons on the ground 5 to 6 days after we sow the seed.
6 Generally, the seed coat is taken in the soil off and you can see the sprout on the ground. When a seed does not ripen well or the sowing direction of the seed is poor, the sprout appears on the ground, but it is still covered by the seed coat.


A point of cultivation


If you want a seed to germinate (sprout) early, scratch a line into the round back of each seed and immerse (soak) the seed in water for about one day, or put it on a ball of wet cotton. Use drained soil by mixing vermiculite and sand with it. When the cotyledons open, it's time for you to transplant (move) the seedlings into soil, so that they can get nourishment.

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