Topic: Seed tapes: Does any one else make their own?

[Beersmith]

I have been doing this for a few seasons now.

It is very easy. A few sheets of two ply loo roll, a bit of flour and water paste and away you go. Split the tissue, cut into lengths of about three feet by one or two inches wide and using a toothpick or something similar put a tiny spot of paste into the tissue. Then touch the toothpick against a seed. Surprisingly this provides enough adhesion to lift the seed and position onto the tissue, where the drop of paste will "grab" it. Allow to dry and roll up for later sowing.

Costs almost nothing. Indeed, cheaper tissue is best as it disintegrates when wet. In my experience, germination seems neither better or worse than direct sowing. What I love most though is how much easier it is to sow tiny seed. It takes time to prepare the tapes but in compensation you save a lot of time later because thinning is far easier. Economical too, you get a long length of tape from each packet.

They are very expensive to buy ready made and I would never recommend doing that, but spending an odd hour making a few of your own is well worth a try.

Cheers

Beersmith

[galina]

That is clever beersmith!  Thank you for great 'how-to' instructions. 

[Beersmith]

Thank you for the kind words but I cannot take much credit.

I have only copied the ingenuity of others who have posted variations of the same idea on line and sometimes on YouTube. Just happy to share the idea.

[lezelle]

Hi Ya, Good idea but I wonder how long your rows are, I am on a normal allotment and for shorter rows of lettuce and beetroot that you sow now and then I will give it a go, but when it comes to parsnip and carrots I sow a 25 foot row and there will be 2 parsnip and 4 carrot so maybe not practical. How ever you have set my mind thinking and perhaps it is time I went to raised beds. My thinking caps on. Thanks for the insight. 

[Beersmith]

Most of my plot is 15 feet wide, and some parts only 12. I usually make the tapes in 5 feet lengths, so I know three will fill a complete row if needed, say for carrots. I made few this morning, as it was wet and no chance of getting on my plot.

But as you correctly observe, it is especially useful for part rows, and succession sowing. It suits me because I tend to grow a wide variety of stuff, and am happy to produce a few feet each of Kohl Rabi, young turnips, nasturtium leaves, asparagus peas, radish, spring onions, etc etc, but a full row of any of these vegetables would be more than me and Mrs Beersmith would need.

I fully agree it would get exceedingly tedious to knock out tape by the hundreds of feet!

[johhnyco15]

i dont make them myself or really use them i can however see the advantage apart from carrots parsnips and turnips which i direct sow i grow all the other stuff in 3" pots and space them accordingly i too only use a small amount especially  lettuce i have upto 10 varieties per row  and beetroot can plant different colours all spaced correctly

[Beersmith]

Evening Johnnyco,

At the risk of going off topic, I too enjoy planting a wide variety, not just different vegetables but different varieties too. I suppose it is because I find having an allotment is a hobby and an interest as well as a way of producing food.

I find one minor practical benefit of variation is that it tends to spread out cropping, as different varieties take differing times to reach cropping stage. But it could just be the fascination of something different.

Cheers