Have a great invention to help with gardening? Are you the self-reliant type that prefers Building It Yourself vs. buying it? Share and discuss your ideas and projects with other members.
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#1 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: South East Va Zone 7A
Posts: 306
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I need a homemade method to put those tiny seeds into my seed bed? My eyes even with glasses on and my big fingers. I have a hard time of putting the seeds in my tray. Any method that y'all have come up with I would like to hear it, Beale.
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#2 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: ny
Posts: 1,219
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people make their own seed mats with the super tiny seeds - like carrots. Using toilet paper and a dab of elmers glue. So you do it in the comfort of a dining table instead of outdoors/windy/dirty/hot/ cold conditions.
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Subirrigated Container gardening (RGGS) in NY, Zone 7! Last edited by luigiwu; March 7, 2015 at 01:46 PM. |
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#3 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
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I keep a toothpick in my mouth and use the wet end to pick up the seed.
I do all my work with the toothpick making holes and covering. Yes I get seed starting mix or peat in my mouth, I dont care. ![]() Worth |
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#4 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: South East Va Zone 7A
Posts: 306
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Thanks for the answers this is what I need! I have been trying to use my fingers? I like both methods. My Fingers are just to big! Beale.
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#5 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Vermont
Posts: 1,001
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For homemade, I use a tool similar to Worth's toothpick, except mine is a whittled stick, so I can grasp it with my sausage fingers. The business end is thicker in diameter than a toothpick, about half the size of a pencil, and it's rounded. Kept moist, it will pick up almost any smallish seed, up to tomato seed size. I use tweezers for bigger ones if I need anything at all. Actually, now if I have a long seeding session, and these days I sometimes do, I use a seeder with a squeeze bulb for suction. It is wonderfully precise and easy to use when seeding lots of flats.
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"Red meat is NOT bad for you. Now blue-green meat, THAT'S bad for you!" -- Tommy Smothers |
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#6 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 121
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Wooden chopsticks may be helpful.
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#7 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Boise, Idaho
Posts: 19
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I also made own tape and used a wet toothpick to help put them on. A thin line of Elmers glue along one side of the toilet paper, put seeds on, fold over press and done. I tend to be heavy-handed and waste a lot of seed when they're small
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#8 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: South East Va Zone 7A
Posts: 306
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I want to than all of you for all the good suggestions! I am going to have to try a few of these to find out which works out for me! I had some Oregano seeds and forget it!! I was kinda broadcasting them in the tray, Beale.
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#9 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
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Those sharp pointed 99 cent bamboo skewers would be the cats meow.
I just tried one. ![]() Worth |
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#10 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Noblesville, IN
Posts: 112
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#11 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Vernon, BC
Posts: 720
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Tweasers are what I use.
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#12 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: ohio
Posts: 4,350
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I have a small serrated kitchen knife that I dip the tip into a drop of water to pick up the seeds and deposit them where I want them. My knife has a few more uses than the tooth pick or chop stick. Not that it is any better. So use what works for you, but a drop of water is tops for picking up the seeds. your saliva works, but not if you are doing as many as I do. I want to get a vacuum seeder. That would be the cats meow! I seed about 400 flats worth of seeds in a season. Generally the finer the seed the less likely you are to be seeding just one seed anyway. I take a pinch and rub my finger and thumb together and quickly sprinkle a thin row down the tray then I water it in very lightly. this works well for seeds such as lobelia, alyssum, oregano, marjoram etc.
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carolyn k |
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#13 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
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![]() Quote:
![]() Worth |
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#14 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Vancouver Island
Posts: 5,931
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The eraser end of a pencil... very high tech.
especially with a bit of spit... gross? maybe but it works ![]() KarenO |
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#15 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: MN Zone4b
Posts: 292
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I find the plastic tool they sell in grocery store produce sections for peeling oranges a very useful tool for planting in plug trays in the house. It makes nice little depressions for holding seeds and its slightly curved tip is useful for moving seeds that don't go to the right place on their own. It's also great for getting rooted plants out of plug trays easily.
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Bitterwort |
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