## 2 Materials and Methods
### Seed Treatment Selection and Experimental Design  
For the experiment, the set of three treatments was used: without NTP treatment and no hydropriming (control), seeds treated with the NTP device for 10 min, followed by hydropriming in distilled water for 24 h (NTP 10), and seeds treated with the NTP device for 15 min, followed by hydropriming with distilled water for 24 h (NTP 15). The NTP treatment times of 10 min and 15 min were selected from a range of treatment times based on the pilot experiment with the testing of the germination of the seeds of both selected crop seed species. For each treatment, the appropriate number of seeds was homogenously placed in the Petri dish, covered by the NTP device, and exposed, as indicated in Figure 1c. Upon exposure, the seeds were immediately hydroprimed. Each set of seeds was immersed in 200 mL of distilled water in a glass flask, shaken, closed with a lid, and kept in the dark for 24 h. After the water was drained, the seeds were spread on filter paper for 48 h at room temperature to complete drying. The dried seeds were collected and kept in a Petri dish, closed with a lid, and stored at room temperature in the dark for 6 months.  
After 6 months of storage, the seeds were placed on one filter paper that was prewetted with 50 mL distilled water using sterilized forceps in a zigzag manner. For cucumber, three replicates of 30 seeds/treatment were used, and each replicate was placed on one filter paper, respectively, while for broccoli, five replicates of 30 seeds/treatment were used, and each replicate was placed on one filter paper, respectively. The difference in replicates was due to the biological variations of the cucumber and broccoli seeds. Broccoli seeds exhibited greater diversity in germination in pilot experiments. Therefore, more repetitions ensured robust statistical analysis. In contrast, previous experience with cucumbers showed less variability in the performance of cucumber seeds. The filter paper with seeds was rolled and kept in a plastic bag in an upright position, which was sealed from the top using a thread to avoid drying and stored at 24 \({}^{\circ}\)C in the dark. The entire setup can be seen in Figure 2. On Days 3, 5, and 7, the number of germinated seeds was counted, where the seed with a visible sprout of 2 mm or more was considered as germinated. Seedling length (_SL_) was manually measured on Day 5 and Day 7, while at the end of the experiment on Day 7, the seedlings were weighed in the fresh form to obtain the seedling fresh weight (_SFW_) and dried for 24 h at 70 \({}^{\circ}\)C, and the seedling dry weight (_SDW_) was weighed. The germination and seedling quality were characterized at specific days by seed germination (\(SG\)), representing the percentage of germinated seeds, and seedling vitality index I, II, and III (\(SVI\) I, II, and III), indicating the seedlings' quality/vitality as per [26] and as follows:  
Seed germination (\(SG\)) is defined as \(SG\) = (number of germinated seeds/total number of seeds) \(\times\) 100, given in %.  
Seedling vitality index I is defined as \(SVI\) I = \(SG\)\(\times\)\(SL\), given in mm.  
Seedling vitality index II is defined as \(SVI\) II = \(SG\)\(\times\)\(\mathrm{FSW}\), given in mg.  
Seedling vitality index I is defined as \(SVI\) III = \(SG\)\(\times\)\(SDW\), given in mg.