DIY Seed Tape: Planting and Spacing Carrots, Chard, Turnip and Beetroots

Have you struggled with properly spacing Carrot, Chard, Lettuce, Turnips, and Beetroot seeds? Seed tape can make your life a lot easy. Some of you might be wondering what seed tape is. Seed tape is a narrow strip of paper to which you attach seeds. You space them correctly on the tape, then, using the seed tape, you get them planted with adequate room between them, not too much, not too little. You can create seed tape for any seeds that are thin and light and difficult to properly space when seeding.

Seed tapes are available in the market, but they are two to three times the price of seeds and are only available for commonly grown varieties. If you are like me, who loves to grow and brag about unique varieties (French Radish, Vienna Kohlrabi, Swiss Chard Seeds, Forono Beet Seed), or you are the one who harvests your seeds, homemade seed tape is the best option. DIY seed tape is the work of a few minutes for an adult but can also be an exciting garden project for kids.

You can use toilet tissue, old newspapers, or paper towel to make seed tape. Cut it into 1.5- to 2-inch-wide long strips. Use a ruler and pencil to mark a dot every two inches (depending on the space recommended for that plant) on these strips.

Mix a spoonful of flour and ¼ cup of water to make glue. Spread the seeds on the table, dip the tip of the brush in the glue, pick a seed or two with it, and place them on each marked dot. Let it dry for some time. Now your seed tape is ready.

To plant the seeds in my raised bed, I dig a very shallow trench about 1 inch deep and place my seed tape in it. I space two seed tapes around 10 inches, and in between the two seed tapes, I use DripWorks DripTape for watering my plants.

If you are new to drip tape irrigation, I recommend watching DripWorks DripTape installation and buying a DripWorks Drip Tape kit to get you started quickly.