How to Make your own Carrot Seed Tape
Gardening can be tough. I’m about to make things easier this season by showing you how we make our own carrot seed tape!
Gardening with more control
Vegetable seed tapes can be commercially purchased. But we have found our own way to make this time-saving gardening hack!
Tiny seeds like spinach, carrots, onions and radishes can so very easily get out of control out in a vegetable garden. Whether a gust of wind blows the seed out of your hand or the packet of small seeds accidentally gets dumped in a pile. I love having just a bit more control when it comes to planting these finer varieties of veggies.
Planting with Seed Tape
Once your seeds are in the ground, you water them, dust your self off and feel the pride of growing your own food. Then in a few weeks when everything has sprouted, you have a second job to handle- thinning your seed. This seed tape allows for so much more control and helps skip that thinning step all together!
Now all you have to do is grab all your favorite gardening tools and weed through the rows of veggies! Or you can read how we keep weeds out of the garden in a time efficient way!
Making seed tape is the perfect project for the kids on a rainy spring day to prepare for growing season. Since we are hoping to put up just as many carrots as last year, we started with 720 seeds. Once all the seed tape is finished we roll it up on the toilet paper core, and stick all the seed tape rolls in the refrigerator until we are ready to plant. Many of these tiny seeds can be planted out pretty early as they can withstand the cold better than some other veggies.
Making your own Carrot Seed Tape- the Video!
Why You’ll Love making this Carrot Seed Tape
- This is a convenient way to save a lot of time on your knees thinning your garden in the heat of the mid season.
- You will have more control of your seeds and seed distribution. Removing the risk of something happening to the entire packet of seeds out in the field or raised bed.
- Have fun with this seed tape! You can plant these in straight rows or have your kids bury their seed tape in the ground in the form of their initials and watch their favorite veggie come up in the letters of their names. Or make any other fun design you like.
How to make Carrot Seed Tape
Materials you’ll need to make this Garden Tape
- Toilet paper
- Carrot, celery, onion, spinach or radish seeds
- Flour
- Water
- Sharpie
- Toilet paper core
First Step- Make your Seed Tape Glue
Seed Tape Glue
Equipment
- 1 cup
- 1 paintbrush
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp flour
- 3 tbsp water
Instructions
- Mix flour and water together in a cup and use paintbrush to apply glue dots on seed tape toilet paper.
Assemble your Carrot Seed Tape
(Following spacing instructions on the back of your seed package)
Ready to Plant your Carrot Seed Tape
When you’re ready to plant your seed tape, simply follow the depth suggestions on the back of your seed packet. Then cover lightly with soil and water!
Questions People are asking about Gardening with Seed Tape
I can’t say for sure if the Elmers glue will break down and allow the tiny seed to release. I do know that the flour/ water combination has worked for forever!
Again, I only know what we’ve tried and things that I know will break down in the dirt. Masking tape may not break down and you might be waiting a while for your carrots to break through.
Sometimes the longer you make them the harder it can be to work with, especially if you are prone to windy conditions. I find rolling them up on an empty toilet paper core really helps. Measure the length of your raised bed or garden space and cut your toilet paper accordingly.
We follow the directions for the correct spacing on the back of the seed package. Our carrot seed packet said 1″.
Tips about this time saving garden hack
- Placing this DIY seed tape in the refrigerator helps them go to sleep and then really want to wake up when they get warmed up. The best results for Germination will happen this way.
- Using items that are biodegradable really helps break things down under the dirt so you aren’t leaving pieces in the ground. Toilet paper is biodegradable and will leave you with equally healthy plants as if you were just placing the seeds directly into the soil.
- Get your kiddos/ grand kids involved! I like to use a sharpie to mark out the 1″ spacing so that the kids can do this project all on their own!
- Read how we keep the weeds out of our garden here.
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This post may contain affiliate links from a paid sponsor, Amazon or other program. When you use these links to make a purchase I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This allows me to continue creating the content that you love. The content in this article is created for information only and based on my research and/or opinion.
Emily T.
DAILY INSPIRATION ON THE GRAM @hearty.sol
it's hip to be square!
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