Okay, so I’ve been wanting to get my garden going, but honestly, starting seeds has always been a bit of a pain. I’ve tried those little peat pellets, and sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. Then I saw these “seed mats” online and thought, hey, that looks easy enough, maybe I should give it a shot, So that what i did.
Making the Seed Mat
First, I gathered my materials. The most important is the seeds and some cheap, single-ply toilet paper, the really thin kind, I use it because it will easily break apart when it’s wet and won’t hurt the little roots. I also needed some flour, water, and a small bowl and a chopstick, some people may use paint brush but i found chopstick is good for me.
I mixed a little bit of flour with water in the bowl to make a simple paste. The paste should not be too thick or too thin, just like glue. Then, I unrolled a length of toilet paper. I did all these steps on my kitchen counter because it’s easy to clean up.
Next, I started placing the seeds. I used a chopstick to pick up a tiny bit of the flour paste and dabbed it onto the toilet paper.I am planting carrots today, so, I placed the carrot seeds on the little dabs of paste, spacing them out about an inch or two apart. And don’t be so precise, just put them there.
I continued this process, dabbing paste and placing seeds, until I had a good length of toilet paper filled. Then, I carefully folded the toilet paper over the seeds, gently pressing down to make sure everything was sealed in, that is a seed mat.
Planting the Seed Mat
After I made the seed mat,I took the mat and the used water spray out to my garden.I dig out a long, shallow trench in the soil, just deep enough to lay the seed mat in, and then I placed the toilet paper strip with all the seeds into it.
I covered the seed mat with a thin layer of soil, and watered the area well with spray, I like use spray because it won’t let water move the seed’s position. I made sure the soil was nice and damp, but not soaking wet.
Waiting and Results
I kept the soil consistently moist over the next few days. I checked it every day, making sure it didn’t dry out. And you konw what, after a about week, I started to see tiny little sprouts popping up! Now they are growing well, and they’re spaced out perfectly, I have to say, so far, so good!
Making a seed mat was actually super easy, and it seems like it’s going to make my seed-starting way more successful this year. I think it is good for beginner. I’ll definitely be doing this again for my other veggies.
