I always have spring fever this time of year and seed tapes are a great way to make use of the time we’re stuck inside when we’d rather be outside digging in the dirt.
Seed tapes are great because you can customize your seeds rather than settle for the generic seed tapes offered at retail. They are great for tiny-seed vegetables that need to be spaced properly like beets, carrots, radishes, and turnips. It’s not necessary to do this for things like lettuce or other greens that grow easily when simply broadcast over the soil or larger seeds that are a bit more manageable.
Seed tapes also:
- reduce the amount of thinning you have to do
- keep your rows nice and straight
Proper spacing ensures your carrots will be nice and straight and your beets will have adequate room to grow.
I travel a lot in my job and I always forget to do the thinning. By making seed tapes, you’re taking care of that chore in advance. Besides, in some parts of the country it’s still too cold to get outside in the garden so it’s a great use of your time while stuck indoors. If you have little helpers, it’s a great project to introduce them to gardening.
The packaging will tell you how to space each particular seed. For carrots and beets, it’s usually 3-inches and for radishes, it’s 2-inches. You can even customize your seed tapes! Make the most of the space you have and alternate seeds — maybe one beet and one radish, for example. Radishes will be harvested well before the beets begin to mature so they can create your natural spacing.
All you need is a biodegradable paper like single-ply toilet toilet tissue, the seeds you want to use, a pair of scissors, and glue. You can make your own glue using water and flour or use a nontoxic glue like Elmer’s that dries quickly.
Don’t forget to label them so you’ll know what’s what when it’s time to plant! I save the toilet tissue cardboard center cores and, after the seed tapes have dried completely, I roll them around the core and store then in an airtight bag. {Make certain they are completely dry before sealing up the bags as moisture will cause the seeds to germinate.}
I’ve created an easy how-to video that will show you everything you need to know to easily make your own seed tapes!
Don’t forget to sign up for my emails, like me on Facebook, and follow me on Twitter and Instagram for more fun content not seen here on the website! Follow my blog with Bloglovin
genius ! your website is so much fun ! i love it ,
amazing idea and loved the presentation!
Great tip! Can’t wait to try this!
This is very cool – I’m in Montana and start Jonesing for my garden a long time before I can plant. With this idea I am going to be ready. Thank you!
Enjoying your web site reovation, recipes,seed tapes,gardening and etc. Love your videos and your uplifting music. The house looks fabulous.
I’ve tried the flour & water glue and Elmer’s glue for the seed tape. These glues harder the seed casing and the seeds I had did not emerge even after a lot of watering in the garden. A waste of money for seeds, time making the tapes & planting. So after 3 failures using the above glues, I used Agave to adhere the seeds to the tape. I spread the tapes out to dry and rolled them up until planting. Almost every seed germinated. I had a large crop of Beets.