DIY Seed Tape – Make Your Own Carrot Seed Tape at Home

Do you have a hard time planting carrot seeds evenly? Feel frustrated by how many carrots you end up having to thin? If so, the answer to your problems is seed tape!

Seed tape is a biodegradable strip with seeds you plant in the ground. This is an easy way to minimize seed waste, thinning, and get nice straight rows (if that’s important to you.) Small seeds like carrots or radishes can be easier to plant when in seed tape form. It can also help you get better spacing of small seeds in square foot gardening.

The problem with seed tape, however, is it can be quite expensive. Especially if you are planting a large area. Luckily, seed tape is easy and cheap to make at home. All it requires are seeds, glue, toilet paper, and patience.

Until this year, I was a bit skeptical about making my own seed tape. Could it really be as easy as gluing seeds on strips of toilet paper and covering with dirt? Would the seeds even germinate? Glue can’t be good for seeds, right?

If this is you, just hear me out. I tried making my own seed tape for the first time a little less than a month ago. And you know what? It worked! All the carrot seeds germinated despite being glued to a strip of TP. In fact, germination rates may have been better.

How to Make You Own Seed Tape

(Directions are for carrot seed, but this would work with any small seeds. You’ll just need to adjust your spacing accordingly.

Supplies

• Toilet Paper
• Washable School Glue (I used Aileen’s Tacky Glue, because it’s what I had. As long as it’s washable, you’re good.)
• Carrot Seeds (or seeds of your choice)
• Permanent Marker (makes spacing your seeds easier and quicker)
• Toothpick (for placing seeds easier)

Step 1

Decide how long you want your seed tape to be. For my carrot tape, I made multiple sections.

Then, mark every two inches with permanent marker. I did upper, lower, and middle with two vertical rows on each square. (If making tape for something besides carrots or radishes, adjust the spacing accordingly.)

Step 2

Once you have the full length of tape marked, separate the layers of toilet paper. If using 1-ply, you can skip this step.

Step 3

Put a small drop of glue on each mark you made in step 1.

Then, using your tooth pick, pick up a small amount of glue from one dot, pick up a seed, and place a single seed on each drop of glue. The process of placing the seed in the drop on the TP should be enough to get more glue on your toothpick. If not, pick up some more from another dot.

Continue placing seeds on glue dots until you have a seed on each dot of your seed tape.

Step 4

Let your seed tape dry. If you leave it on the table or floor, it will likely stick. I like to dry mine over the backs of the kitchen chairs. They will still stick in a few spots, but not as badly as they would on a flat surface.

Step 5

Once your seed tape is dry, it’s time to plant! I like to roll mine up on an empty paper towel roll to make it easier to transport to the garden.

Clear aside a section of ground, lay your seed tape down, and cover to the depth specified on the seed packet. With some water and patience, you’ll have carrot sprouts in no time!

Not ready to make your seed tape yet? Pin it for future reference!

Interested in a quicker, easier, method for starting carrot seeds? Check out this post on winter sowing carrot seeds.