Tricks to Try Again

In previous posts I talked about a method planting potatoes in straw, planting carrots on toilet paper, and adding epsom salt when planting tomatoes. All planting tricks that I will be trying this coming year. Here's why:



Potatoes in Straw




First of all it worked I got a decent potato crop from the small section. The best part about it was harvesting. All I had to do, to harvest the potatoes was sift through the straw and pull them out. The potatoes were also in a nice uniform size. This year I plan to plant a whole row to see the difference between other rows.




Carrots on Toilet Paper

I will never plant carrots differently. I had doubts that white glue would work it did but this year I will be using a flour paste. The only other change I will make is gluing the carrot seeds closer since they had far more space than they needed.

Tomatoes and Epsom Salt

Best tomatoes I have ever planted. I had very little disease is any unlike years past. The fruit was very high quality as well nice and firm. Definitely an improvement on bottom end rot.

Planting Carrots that Prevents Future Thinning

The biggest drawback to planting carrots is having to thin them after they sprout and start to grow. In the few years I have been raising a garden I haven't been able to get the timing right for thinning. Mainly because it is not my favorite activity. However if my new plan works I won't have to worry. I like to call the idea Homemade Seed Tape.

I got the idea from a coworker, once again. The method goes like this: Take a length of toilet paper and attach you carrot seeds to it spaced to your preference. Then you lay the toilet paper where you want your row, cover with dirt, and voila you are done.

Now here is the long explanation complete with opinions and digression. The idea behind this planting method is to get carrot plants spaced evenly in a row with out having to pull out the plants that grow too closely to one another. Now this isn't a big a problem with other plants since their seeds are large enough to handle easily. Carrots are not. So without further ado here is how it is done.

Take a length of toilet paper and roll it out on a hard surface like a counter or table. Get some white glue, toothpick (I used a BBQ Skewer and thought it was better, anyway), carrot seeds and a disposable plate. Put the glue on the plate in a small pool. Dipping the end of the toothpick into the glue then grab a carrot seed with the gluey end. Stick the carrot to the toilet paper. Now I put about 4 seed per square the article linked above was much more I think it all depends on how big you want you carrots and how close you want them to grow to one another. Once you have all the carrots on the paper let it dry. When it is dry take it out and plant it. Now carrots don't like a lot of dirt piled on them so I made a wide shallow (1/4") trench with my hand trowel. I then laid the seeded toilet paper along the trench and covered it with dirt until I couldn't see the toilet paper. This ended up being about 1/4 inch of soil. I then patted it down and watered the row.

Advantages and Doubts

Yes I have doubts, more like worries but only about the glue. I am worried that it might not germinate in the glue. However if not I will try a flour paste or corn starch so the only drawback is time to grow.

Now the advantages are far more and well worth the risk. There is no thinning necessary! Woot Woot! Am I right? You can also get three times as many carrots in one row which to me is the best part. Always nice to be able to save space.