Growing from seed tapes

An abundance of vegetable seeds are now available in seed tape and mat form. Converts praise their precision and ease – there’s no handling of tiny seeds since they’re ready spaced in the biodegradable fabric. Mark a shallow drill, pre-water the ground before laying out the tape, cover with a scattering of soil and water again. There’s less need to thin developing seedlings since there’s no risk of you dropping half a packet in a clump by accident. In the early weeks beware birds pecking at the seed tape and dislodging the line. Mats are designed for precise sizes of containers and are as simple as filling a container with compost, topping with a seed mat, sprinkling over a little more compost and watering.