Seed Tape: A Quick, Easy, and Fun way to Plant Seeds

 

Does getting seeds spaced properly when planting or letting small kids handle tiny seeds make you a little nervous? If so, try making seed tapes to get spacing just right. This is a fun activity to do with children that can also be a clever way to practice measuring.

 

This method works especially great with very small seeds like those of carrots, cabbage, broccoli, etc. These seeds are so tiny that it is easy to overplant and waste seeds. If seeds are too crowded, that calls for thinning plants when they are about 2 inches high and that just means extra work. If plants aren’t spaced correctly, they won’t grow well and that’s not what we want. So these little garden helpers can make life a lot easier! Now let’s get to it!

To make seed tape you will need:

• Seeds for the season
• Toilet paper, paper towels, or newspaper (Use whichever you have handy to create your “tape.”)
• Scissors
• Marker or Pencil
• Ruler
• Glue
  • School glue
  • Honey
  • Mixture of 1 tbsp. flour and a couple tsp. water

Directions:

• Roll out your “tape” to the length you need.
• Cut the length into strips about 2 inches wide.
• Label each strip with the name of the seeds you will be attaching to it.
• Read the label on your seeds to determine how far apart they need to be spaced.
• Use your ruler to measure the spacing on your tape and mark a dot where every seed should go.
• Open your glue, honey, or mix your flour & water to make your own glue.
• Put a little drop of glue on each dot.
• Put a seed on each dot of glue.
• Let glue dry.

Seeds can be stored this way until you are ready to plant or you can plant them into the garden immediately.

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