Anyone make their own "seed tape"

[sixdogs]

In a magazine the other day I read of someone making their own "seed tape" to deal with the planting and spacing of small seeds such as lettuce, etc.
They took two narrow strips of newspaper, coated one lightly with some simple flour paste and spaced seeds accordingly.
When dry, they layed the strip in the garden, covered lightly with soil and watched the majic begin.
This seems a great idea for my ever expanding garden and a neat way to handle small seeds.
Anyone else done this or thought about it?

 

[clemsonfor]

sounds like a good idea that will work, go for it. Never heard or tried it before but im sure it works gr8.

 

[rus_geek]

I haven't yet, but I'm considering it, to take advantage of winter time in favor of saving planting time in the spring. Looks like there are lots of instructions out there, that are basically paper and glue. The paper may be newsprint, paper towel, toilet paper, paper bags or just plain paper. Glue is flour & water, cornstarch & water, elmer's glue. I would think any water-based weak adhesive would work. I like the idea of a quick-dissolving paper like toilet paper if it holds up long enough to handle storage and planting.

-rus-

 

[MMagis]

I can’t imagine it would be worth your time for all they cost to buy. I know it’s not worth mine.

 

[sixdogs]

I can稚 imagine it would be worth your time for all they cost to buy. I know it痴 not worth mine.

It's not a question of cost. The only varieties readily available are the standard run of the mill stuff. If you want anything even slightly out of the ordinary, no dice.
As well, some clay soils are miserable in the spring. If they are the least bit damp or you look at it funny, the ground "pills" into mini marblets that are 50 times the size of the seed. You get poor generation that way.
And one more, If you just sprinkle the smaller seeds you wind up with one seed in the right place and 50 more that you have to weed out.
Seed tape is--I think--a good idea and if I can't find what I want it might be worth making it. Still exploring.