OK, it ate half of my post, including my little graphic I created -- I'm not going to redo it, it was just a little grid showing seeds at regular intervals.

Anyway, my question is, what type of adhesive would be safe to adhere the seeds to the paper? Regular Elmer's glue, rubber cement, some type of spray adhesive, a glue stick, or homemade flour & water glue paste? I have concerns both about the seed absorbing moisture from the glue at the time of application, and about the glue hardening too much and preventing germination when the time comes?

And, do you think wrapping tissue would work for this? I think it is the right kind of highly-dissolvable when wet texture, and I like the idea of having a large sheet, which would make fast going of it when I lay them out on the ground in the spring (remember, I planting something like 1000 square feet of root crops if not a bit more than that, so I have to cover the area FAST).

Dennis
SE Michigan

Past discussions:

Making seed tape

Making your own seed mats

How to make seed tape

Plain old toilet paper works well, especially the cheap thin stuff. You can use Elmer's School Glue (dissolves in water) or just make a crease in the paper and skip the glue.

Dave

PS: If you Google the question you'll find several how-to's online too.

Thanks, Dave, I really appreciate the knowledge you share about a lot of topics on the various boards here.

Do you have any formal training in horticulture, or are you just self-taught?

Dennis
SE Michigan

Here is how I make mine:
In a small pan, dissolve 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in 1 cup of cold water. Cook over a medium flame, stirring constantly to prevent the mixture from getting lumpy. Once it starts to boil and turns into a translucent gel-like mixture, remove it from the stove, and let it cool to room temperature.
Get some paper towels, leaving the sheets attached to one another, and tear off a section of about five feet. Cut the length of the towels into long strips that are about 1/2 to 3/4 inches wide.
Take the cooled cornstarch mixture and put a few spoonfuls into a small plastic bag. Work the gel mixture toward one corner of the bag, removing as much excess air as possible, then seal the bag. Next you'll need to snip off the corner of the bag to create a pastry bag like tool, similar to those that bakers use to ice cakes. At this point it's a simple matter of dabbing on the gel at the right spacing (You can use a ruler and pre-mark lightly with a pencil) and putting the seed in each dab. If your seeds are very small, you may want to put the seed into the cornstarch gel mixture (after it's cooled) before even placing it into the bag. Then you can mix them together and seed the tape by simply dabbing in the right spots.

The other option is to buy one of those small seed planting gadgets and use it to direct seed into the soil.

This information may already be in the links that Dave provided. But last year, I just cut long strips of paper grocery bags. Then made a very thin mixture of flour and water - lightly painted it on the paper strips with a childs paintbrush and it worked like a charm.

Best of luck to you! So much easier than trying to direct sow those little seeds into a row!

I've been toying with this idea for awhile, but the tediosity of picking up and placing small seeds in a straight line stops me. I'm thinking that one could use a sheet of newspaper, place dots of stickem on small sections at a time, sprinkle a generous amount of seeds on the prepared paper, then pick up the paper and let the excess roll off into a pan. A little experimenting should determine the correct amount of stickem to hold the seeds. Then cut the sheets to the desired width.
I may just stick with the broadcast-thin method ; ).

Last year I made tapes for carrots, lettuce, radish, beets and maybe some others I'm forgetting. I used cheap, thin toilet paper and a kid's non-toxic glue. Figured tiny bits of non-toxic glue couldn't be too bad near edible plants. I'm sure other paper products and adhesives would also work well. It was great to have nicely spaced seedlings and saved lots of planting and thinning time. It also mades a pack of seeds last almost forever :) I'm thinking of trying it with paper towels or newspaper this year to cover larger areas. I'm planning to experiment and cover some preplanted towels and newspaper with soil in the house soon to see how quickly it breaks down. I don't expect any trouble with either since I know it disappears quickly in my compost pile.

Making the tapes was a fun winter activity when it was too cold and snowy to get out in the garden. And it goes surprisingly fast once you experiment and find a preferred technique. Just be sure to let everything dry really well before rolling things up and store the rolls in a place that stay very dry.

Thanks, Dave, I really appreciate the knowledge you share about a lot of topics on the various boards here.

Do you have any formal training in horticulture, or are you just self-taught?

I haven't read a lot of Dave's posts but, from my own experience and as someone who does have formal training (BS degree) and now teaches college hort, I would bet that the useful stuff that Dave shares is from his own study and experience primarily. I could be wrong about other programs but I'd bet not many teach how to make seed tape and handy things like that. I learned it from the woman who works in my office!

There's a reason that Thomas Jefferson said, "But tho' an old man, I am but a young gardener." There's just too much that can be learned and the most knowledgeable gardeners I've encountered have quite a few years under their belt.

Brad

What a great idea! I am going to try making seed tapes this year.

I have looked at these in the store and they are always expensive, how great to make them myself!

I used this yesterday for lettuce. Just sprinkled tp squares with water and spaced the seeds out, wetting as needed. I planted each square immediately, so I didn't worry about glue or drying.

The dark seeds were a LOT easier to space against the white paper. Light seeds were still easier than broadcasting.

Will know how it worked, assuming my seeds were good, in a few days!

I had the same problem , and i tryed seed tape. But I need alot.
Instead I made a planting stck out of a old hollow mop handle. It has a part that sticks out to one side. I use that part as a measure.
The Stick allows me to plant seeds ever 2 and 4 inches apart, while standing up.
I use a funnel at the top of the tube so it's easy to put the seeds in the tube.