[cjskts]

Maybe an odd idea, but i was just talking to the hubby about our carrots. I was planning in starting them in plug trays and then planting them out and therefore eliminating the need to thin out. But i have been reading on here about the possibility of damaging the root of the carrot.

Then we were talking about how much of a pain in the rear it would be to sow them individually. We didnt thin them out and although they wasnt too bad, some were very small because of this. So we really need to sow them thinner.

Would using a 'tablet sweetener dispenser' work? Like the candarel, but not those because they are massive. Its the blue ones that i use, so was thinking of one of them. would it work? My only worry is that they seeds are so small, they might get squished.

What does everyone think?

Chris n Kelley

[prakash_mib]

people try to sow carrots in bog rolls and plant them.
Thinning is necessary if you put them in a line. but no high end technology is needed. Bit of patience needed to do it. say 2-3 seeds every inch in a V trench. This would give thinnings for salads (which you can use including the leaves) and a final harvest.
the easiest practice would be to hold flour/sand between your fingers and make a line on the floor/table. then move to the actual seed and demonstrate your capability indoors (on dining table) then do it outdoors.

[robbodaveuk]

I mix my carrot seeds with a good quantity of dry sand, makes it a lot easier to sow in a shallow trench and very little thinning to do.

  Robbo.

[Trillium]

I was just going to suggest that very same idea, robbo

[DD.]

A tablet dispenser would still dispense a lot of seed at a time as they are so small in comparison, you would end up with evenly space clumps.

Mixing with sand is one idea, personally I don't thin. I try & sow fairly thinly, then when the carrots grow they gently push each other to one side. One or two may wrap themselves around each other, but compared to the overall crop these are few & far between.

[Kleftiwallah]

I've heard of a practice of mixing small seeds with wallpaper paste (non-fungicidal) and squirting the gloop from a plastic bag with a hole cut in the bottom.  Cheers,   Tony.

[Springlands]

It is possible to buy seed dispensers from the likes of Fernadale however I found that they do not really work that well - best to take your time as sow thinly as others have said.

[digalotty]

yep i just take longer to sow them,  there is no reason to thin them if you spread them .
i know what you mean about them being small and fiddly and finding a good carrot seed dispenser will be a great asset to any lotty

[SocksOn]

Sorry being nosy but there are some very interesting ideas - last year I just sprinkled them (not very technical) and hoped for the best. But I think I'll try some of the other ideas this year

thank you

[ians68]

Has anyone tried these tapes pre-seede with carrots or other veg, and with what result

[andy135]

To make sowing easier you could try pelleted carrot seeds such as these..............

http://www.molesseeds.co.uk/flower_and_vegetable_seed_store_uk/Products_F1_Trevor__pelleted__3564.html

[arugula]

Has anyone tried these tapes pre-seede

Ian,

These were tested on the Beechgrove Garden - BBC Scotland gardening programme. As far as I can remember, apart from the tape being a much more expensive way to buy the seed, they didn't find the germination rate at all good.

[shokkyy]

Has anyone tried these tapes pre-seede with carrots or other veg, and with what result

Yes, I tried some of those last year for salad stuff. They're easy to put in but the problem was that the seeds didn't all germinate, which then left me with big gaps in the row. On the whole, I think I'd rather have too many and have to thin them out than not enough. What I normally do is move the thinnings to a new row. They seem to cope with that, but it does check them a bit, which effectively gives me a second sowing.

[Trillium]

Must admit that I can't bother with all the fuss so I take my time and simply try to space my carrot seeds thinly. Mostly I let mine grow to a good size before starting to pull and I hate the waste of thinning otherwise useless carrots. I find that carrot seeds age quickly so I try to keep my seeds fresh as possible for best germination rates.

[solway cropper]

If you use the block planting technique rather than rows you can just scatter the seed loosely across the area and let the carrots fend for themselves. Works for me!