Topic: Are Seed Tapes any good?

[George the Pigman]

Last year I bought some spring onion seed tapes and sowed them in my garden. Not a single plant came up and this year the same thing happened. I also bought some Hollow Crown parsnip seed tape and put it in the ground in my allotment 4 weeks ago. So far nothing has appeared. So I am getting sceptical about seed tapes.
What are other peoples experiences with using them?

[Tee Gee]

Well I have sown a couple of packets of carrot Sweet Candle the earliest sown row is romping along, hope to get the same result from the 2nd packet which I sowed last Friday.

Will be putting another type in possibly later on this week.

What method did you use to sow them? I formed a drill, soaked it then laid the tape on the damp soil, covered them then lightly watered the surface of the soil.

[johhnyco15]

myself ive used them with mixed success  some have done very well others nothing come up used in the same way  so myself i would not use them as i  find just as easy to sow direct from my hand

[ancellsfarmer]

From my own experience as  retailer( now retired, out!), the tapes are the slowest of sellers, and rarely cleared before the season is out. Given that seed vitality is related to age and that they have been "manufactured", as well as passing down the distribution chain, my suspicion would be that the seeds are not on a level platform for viability before you sow. The advantage of precise spacing goes out the window if only a few sprout.
 The price is high against pelleted seed, another value -add idea of questionable advantage.
There was a"fad" for mixing seed into a wallpaper paste mix and squirting them out as if decorating a cake with a piping set. Anybody still do this?

[picman]

Had some 'early nantes' first year great, second year great untill some critter pulled the thing out the ground , ( mouse ? ) , this year put a plank on top for a week , they seem to be ok....( only paid half price T&M allotment offer )

[Duke Ellington]

There was a time when I didn't work and I triedmaking my own seed tape!! I know you are all saying I must have been idle but it was actually quite relaxing. I cut kitchen roll into strips, mixed a paste with flour and water, put a little blob at intervals and placed my seed on the blob. folded the strip over and pressed down. There are loads of how to videos on utube.
It worked too👍🏻
Duke

[George the Pigman]

Well Tee Gee for the parsnips I essentially used your technique. I use a line of moist spent compost. Normally I use loose seeds and for parsnips I sow them fairly thickly on this then cover them with a thin layer of soil or compost. That way I get a reasonable number of seeds germinating but nothing like 100% (we have clay soil!).
An interesting point Ancellsfarmer about seed viability with less popular products and of course parsnip seed loses viability quickly compared to others.
It still may come up of course but I think I will sow another row with some loose seed as a backup.
You can never have too many parsnips!!