Hi,
I've heard that you can sow fine seed such as carrot and lettuce thinly (to avoid too much waste by having to thin once started growing), by mixing it with wallpaper paste (of the non-fungicidal type), and then "piping" this into your drills.
I have looked at some of the posts on this subject in here, and they all seem to suggest that the seed should be germinated first.
Is it REALLY necessary to germinate first, and can anybody suggest an alternative to wallpaper paste please?
Is there some sort of medium that could be made from kitchen store cupboard contents?
Also, is it feasible to make your own seed tapes by, for instance, applying a waterbased adhesive to strips of lining paper, and thinly sprinkling the seed onto it?
I'm pretty sure I've seen Monty Don or Alan Titchmarsh mix really fine seed with sand, then sow the sand/seed mixture. then you can also see where you've sown it!
no idea about germinating them first though, I'm afraid :-[
Thanks for that advice norfolklass. That is something well worth looking into.
:) :) :)
I think it's cambourne who's made seed tapes..?
I know lots of people were making them last year. Seemed like a good idea - something constructive to do when the weather is too bad to get out.
last year i made a gloop out of cornflour (heated and cooled) to the same consistency as wallpaper paste and used that with pre germinated carrot seed and it worked fine. you need to make sure that the seeds are just barely germinated as the shoots are so delicate. i put it all into a icing bag with a wide nozzle; opened a drill and iced the contents along. ;D bit of a faff though and i didnt bother again. its easier to just thin out.
When I was a kid we used to make paste out of a bit of flour boiled up in water. You have to keep stirring while you heat the water. Sand does work as well.