DIY seed tape

**MamaBear** · 02-22-2014, 09:44 AM

Made some seed tape recently - planning on doing all of my lettuce & carrots this way, since the seeds are so small, I can never get anything evenly spaced. No need to thin carrots out either. Cheap 1-ply toilet paper (or strips of newspaper with no color ink) and a bit of flour/water paste is all you need.

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**Lamewolf** · 02-22-2014, 11:08 AM

Originally Posted by MamaBear

Made some seed tape recently - planning on doing all of my lettuce & carrots this way, since the seeds are so small, I can never get anything evenly spaced. No need to thin carrots out either. Cheap 1-ply toilet paper (or strips of newspaper with no color ink) and a bit of flour/water paste is all you need.

IMG_6437.jpg

I always started my carrot seeds early inside in the little peat moss cups and then just plant them cup and all when the proper time comes. The cups help hold moisture and also feeds the plant as it breaks down in the soil.

**hunter63** · 02-22-2014, 12:50 PM

I would think that the paste. flour/water, may start germination but getting the seeds wet?

**MamaBear** · 02-22-2014, 01:42 PM

@Lamewolf -- that's a great idea!

@hunter63 -- I thought the same thing, however I've had no problems with early germination so far. I use a toothpick to put a tiny amount of flour paste on the paper, and set the strip out to dry right away.

**hunter63** · 02-22-2014, 02:13 PM

You have a whole lot more patience than I do....LOL.
Cool idea.

I have a old spice bottle...the kind that had a sprinkler (1/4?" holes) on 1/2 the top, and 1/3 flap on the other.

Mix my seed with course sawdust and sprinkle......like planting little bunches around flag stone type rocks (warms ground and comes up earlier).......I'm not a neat row guy.

Space several planting over several weeks....so grows for quite a while.

**Chris** · 02-22-2014, 03:47 PM

Originally Posted by Lamewolf

I always started my carrot seeds early inside in the little peat moss cups and then just plant them cup and all when the proper time comes. The cups help hold moisture and also feeds the plant as it breaks down in the soil.

When I've done this the cup hasn't been degraded enough by the time the root is growing and it ends up deforming. Maybe bottomless ones...

**Rick** · 02-22-2014, 05:13 PM

You do have a lot of patience. I just broadcast mine. I'll bet the kids were sure wonderin' what you were doing with that small toilet paper.

When you plant a cup of any kind with a seedling it's always a good idea to cut down the sites of the cup for the very reason Chris outlined. Even "biodegradable" pots can create root bound plants if they don't break down enough to allow the roots to push through.

**LowKey** · 02-22-2014, 07:12 PM

I don't bother with carrots in cups. Too much work to set them out. I just sow them in place and thin them when they get to be an inch long. They're good in salads at that size. Carrots are one of the things you can get at the grocery store for $1 a bunch. I try not to put too much work into things like that. That's like the revelation that if you buy 75 onion sets, you will get about 50 onions. And if you are paying $10-$15 for green sets (dried sets are cheaper), that's 20¢-30¢ per onion!

I've never had luck with peat pots or peat cubes or those flat disk meshy things you toss in a bowl of water to puff up. The plants tend to be confined to the peat container and don't seem to send out roots. If I get them at a garden center, I rip off the peat pot. Besides, Peat is a finite resource these days and getting expensive. I just use plain old plastic pots or open 6-bys filled with potting soil or seed starter. Some I've had for years. A good bleach in the fall and put away clean in the garage means you aren't freezing your fingers off outdoors cleaning em up in February/March. Or trying to remember where you stacked them under the snow. Or discovering they are frozen to the ground in a block of ice.