September 11, 2012

New season, new tools

Last year overseeding was one of my biggest problems when planting.  My goal was to have 25-30 seeds per row, but usually there were at least a few extra.  To solve this problem I now have a vacuum seeder!  There are a variety of vacuum seeders, but the one I'm using is a wand with twelve holes in it (and the vacuum part which I didn't take a picture of).


When it's on I cover the hole in the lower left corner and dip the yellow tip things into the trough of seeds.  One seed is held onto the end of each tip.  When I remove my thumb from the hole the seeds fall off in magically straight rows of 12 seeds.  I do this twice to have 24 seeds per row.


This is especially useful when seeding lettuce because the seeds are so small.   See the nice, not-so-densely seeded lettuce below?  It's just beautiful.




2 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Ha! It's pretty great, but I kind of miss touching the seeds if that makes sense. Not that I'm complaining! Last spring I had to thin out a lot of seedlings which felt like such a waste (I hate wasting things, even seeds). So far I haven't had to thin at all.

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