Then Luckybottom told of her experience in her square foot garden using a gel made from 1T cornstarch in 1 cup of water, boiled and then allowed to cool. Bonnie applied this gel to a thin paper towel, sprinkled on the carrot seeds and arranged them with a chop stick. She then placed the paper towel "in the prepared bed, covered lightly with topsoil and keep moist till germination." By day 20 she could show us her success. Bonnie suggested that I try this and I promptly did.

This thin row of seedlings between the brick and the camera is evidence of my effort, thanks Bonnie! (The taller carrots in the background were planted many weeks earlier using more conventional methods.) Of the 8 photo’s I took, this was the only one that anyone would have had any reasonable ability to see the carrot seedlings.

I pulled a paper towel apart so as to use a single ply then cut it into strips, applied the gel and then the seeds. The combination went into the soil on June 13th so this is at day 14.

Not wanting to leave well enuf alone, I also tried just applying a "bead" of gel directly in the soil and shook seed onto the bead. The germination seems to be about the same! Therefore, I planted more carrot seed today using that method.

I have planted pelleted carrot seed thru June before with some success. The clay coating apparently holds moisture and enables these slow-sprouting seeds to germinate as our soil heats up and dries out at this time of year. However, pelleted seed failed the one time I tried it in July – I felt that I’d reached the limits of the technique.

I’m not sure how these plants will grow as we move into some very warm weather but I’ve got my fingers crossed (darn gel sticks to everything ;o)!

diiigggiiitS’

I, too, went to taking the gel a step further in experimentation: I put the gel in to a Disposable Syringes - 140cc Syringe Catheter Tip and used that to get the stuff in my seed hole, and then made sure the seeds were encased in the gel before covering the seeds with garden soil. I used this to plant okra, squash & beans. Germination on the okra 7 days (packet said 14-21 days), squash 5 days and still waiting to see the beans.

It will be very interesting to see what kind of results our seedlings give, what with triple digit temperatures and no rain for 3 weeks.

According to the U of C, Davis: "Coated alfalfa seed is added directly to the liquid fertilizer tank just prior to application. . . . coated with a polymer." What the heck they are coating with is a mystery to me but the additives don't sound too wonderful for the veggie garden - fungicide, insecticide, etc.

(I'm thinking of mixing a little chicken broth into the cornstarch gel . . . then they'd have soup. ;o)

digitS'