These sound like a good idea but they would only seem to be worthwhile if the seeds are too small to handle. As a bit of a novice with veggies, what are the varieties that would fall into this category? I suppose carrots to start with...
Many thanks

In article ,
stuart noble wrote:
These sound like a good idea but they would only seem to be worthwhile
if the seeds are too small to handle. As a bit of a novice with veggies,
what are the varieties that would fall into this category? I suppose
carrots to start with...

AND if you can rely on nearly 100% successful germination. In my
garden, I get c. 80% but only c. 30% of the time; the rest, I get
rates of as low of as a few percent. That's carrots - other things
mostly do better, though a few do worse. As a result, I have to sow
more densely, resow if that fails, and thin out when I get success.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 29/11/2017 18:49, stuart noble wrote:
These sound like a good idea but they would only seem to be
worthwhile if the seeds are too small to handle. As a bit of a novice
with veggies, what are the varieties that would fall into this
category? I suppose carrots to start with... Many thanks

Even so learning to handle fine seeds with a small valley made of folded
stiff paper and gently stroking it to get an even run of seeds is better
value for money. You get a lot more loose seeds for the same price.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On Thursday, November 30, 2017 at 2:20:31 PM UTC, Martin Brown wrote:
On 29/11/2017 18:49, stuart noble wrote:
These sound like a good idea but they would only seem to be
worthwhile if the seeds are too small to handle. As a bit of a novice
with veggies, what are the varieties that would fall into this
category? I suppose carrots to start with... Many thanks

Even so learning to handle fine seeds with a small valley made of folded
stiff paper and gently stroking it to get an even run of seeds is better
value for money. You get a lot more loose seeds for the same price.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

That's my line of thinking at the moment, except the piece of paper should ideally be longer than A4 to get the spacing about right. I suppose a strip of lining paper could work.
I'll also do a test to see whether masking or packaging tapes are water soluble. If so they could hold the seeds in place and allow the strip to be rolled and stored for later use.

On 30-Nov-17 1:33 PM, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
stuart noble wrote:
These sound like a good idea but they would only seem to be worthwhile
if the seeds are too small to handle. As a bit of a novice with veggies,
what are the varieties that would fall into this category? I suppose
carrots to start with...

AND if you can rely on nearly 100% successful germination. In my
garden, I get c. 80% but only c. 30% of the time; the rest, I get
rates of as low of as a few percent. That's carrots - other things
mostly do better, though a few do worse. As a result, I have to sow
more densely, resow if that fails, and thin out when I get success.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.


Good point.Carrots seem particularly variable. I still haven't worked
out what the critical factor is (or are) out of temperature, moisture,
depth or slug activity. Later in the year seems to be better.
Having been very successful with germinating parsnips in a bag of
compost in the airing cupboard I wonder if carrots would work in the
same way. I doubt if the farmers do that though !

Paul

On Saturday, December 2, 2017 at 11:11:36 AM UTC, Paul Luton wrote:
On 30-Nov-17 1:33 PM, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
stuart noble wrote:
These sound like a good idea but they would only seem to be worthwhile
if the seeds are too small to handle. As a bit of a novice with veggies,
what are the varieties that would fall into this category? I suppose
carrots to start with...

AND if you can rely on nearly 100% successful germination. In my
garden, I get c. 80% but only c. 30% of the time; the rest, I get
rates of as low of as a few percent. That's carrots - other things
mostly do better, though a few do worse. As a result, I have to sow
more densely, resow if that fails, and thin out when I get success.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.


Good point.Carrots seem particularly variable. I still haven't worked
out what the critical factor is (or are) out of temperature, moisture,
depth or slug activity. Later in the year seems to be better.
Having been very successful with germinating parsnips in a bag of
compost in the airing cupboard I wonder if carrots would work in the
same way. I doubt if the farmers do that though !

Paul

By default I germinate everything between 2 wet sheets of kitchen roll covered with a plastic bag. Bigger seeds are easy to handle when they sprout but carrots probably not.

In article ,
stuart noble wrote:

By default I germinate everything between 2 wet sheets of kitchen roll
covered with a plastic bag. Bigger seeds are easy to handle when they
sprout but carrots probably not.

For everything from peas on upwards, and even smaller seeds if they are
sown in small numbers, yes. But that's infeasible for carrots without
adopting a sowing gel solution - which I have thought of. The problem
is that the failure doesn't always occur that early - it is quite often
that they germinate but fail to establish.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On Sunday, December 3, 2017 at 1:06:27 PM UTC, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
stuart noble wrote:

By default I germinate everything between 2 wet sheets of kitchen roll
covered with a plastic bag. Bigger seeds are easy to handle when they
sprout but carrots probably not.

For everything from peas on upwards, and even smaller seeds if they are
sown in small numbers, yes. But that's infeasible for carrots without
adopting a sowing gel solution - which I have thought of. The problem
is that the failure doesn't always occur that early - it is quite often
that they germinate but fail to establish.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Could be a PH issue with synthetic gels I suppose. Gelatin might be a safer bet

On 03/12/2017 15:40, stuart noble wrote:
On Sunday, December 3, 2017 at 1:06:27 PM UTC, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
stuart noble wrote:

By default I germinate everything between 2 wet sheets of kitchen roll
covered with a plastic bag. Bigger seeds are easy to handle when they
sprout but carrots probably not.

For everything from peas on upwards, and even smaller seeds if they are
sown in small numbers, yes. But that's infeasible for carrots without
adopting a sowing gel solution - which I have thought of. The problem
is that the failure doesn't always occur that early - it is quite often
that they germinate but fail to establish.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Could be a PH issue with synthetic gels I suppose. Gelatin might be a safer bet

Old fashioned wallpaper past was the thing, breaks down with just a
little moisture.

In article ,
David wrote:
On 03/12/2017 15:40, stuart noble wrote:

By default I germinate everything between 2 wet sheets of kitchen roll
covered with a plastic bag. Bigger seeds are easy to handle when they
sprout but carrots probably not.

For everything from peas on upwards, and even smaller seeds if they are
sown in small numbers, yes. But that's infeasible for carrots without
adopting a sowing gel solution - which I have thought of. The problem
is that the failure doesn't always occur that early - it is quite often
that they germinate but fail to establish.

Could be a PH issue with synthetic gels I suppose. Gelatin might be a
safer bet

Old fashioned wallpaper past was the thing, breaks down with just a
little moisture.

I would use REALLY old-fashed wallpaper paste - made from flour and
water, cooked up! But that doesn't help if the problem is with the
seedlings getting established.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.