I’ve been researching this seed tape idea for a few years .

What I have come up with is similar to seed tapes but instead of tapes just use a 1/2 inch squares of toilet tissue, big 6 inch plastic tweezers and some simple glue made from rice flour or plain flour. You only make enough for the job in hand. Don’t try to store it in the fridge lest bacteria get going in it.

Make it to a batter thickness mix then use a pencil tip to put a workable blob of the thick mix on one square of toilet tissue and sandwich a seed between two bits. Let it dry over night, carry out to site of planting in a lidded plastic box. Take the tweezers with you.

It is all done in the warmth & comfort of inside the home and whilst sat down (I have several decaying spinal discs as well) l plant the seed the next day. It is done under the bright lights in the kitchen so I can see what I’m doing as the diabetes has also reduced my sight along with old age.

What is different is that I have used a small aquarium pump sealed inside a small sealable plastic sandwich box to make a vacuum pump .

The outlet of the air pump is taken out a matching hole in the wall of the plastic box and a fish tank air tube is glued in place to seal it. I used Evostick on both sides of the plastic where it passes through. You’ll also need to do the same for the power lead.

To make the seed suction tube I’ve used a metre length of new air tube and similarly glued it in the side of the plastic box as the inlet tube.

At the free end I have used an empty ball pen refill tube complete with the ball point. This is then modified by carefully grinding off the ball and leaving a square clean edge in the shank of the metal just above where the ball was.

The refill is then slid into a small block of plastic that is drilled to size for a good fit then glued in this hole so that the block is about mid way along the refill to make the seed suckers body and ” switch ” ( I used one of those plastic screw up plastic jointing blocks that you get from B&Q etc to butt join mdf/chipboard ) Now the final step using one of the screw holes is to drill a 5 mm hole down into the pen refill area so you just cut through the upper wall.

Now all you do is clip the lid on the box to get it air tight, turn on the pump and it will start to draw a vacuum through the seed sucker. Put your thumb or finger over the 5 mm hole and the vacuum is felt at the metal tip of the refill. Suck up a seed, put it where you want it by releasing the thumb finger and breaking the vacuum.

Have the seeds in a small square plastic container and tip the seeds into one corner ..that way you usually get a seed every hit rather than trying to use shaky hands chasing seeds around a plate or large flat area.

Years ago we used to make such seed suckers out of glass and rubber tubes, connected them to a water tap , to let the water passing the tube create the vacuum but because most people are on water meters nowadays it’s not a sensible method to pursue.

Some of my fellow allotment gardners plant their parsnip seeds into cardboard tubes (empty toilet roll holders ). When seeds have germinated , tubes then planted directly into the prepared site. A much quicker to germinate parsnip , is to scatter seed onto several sheets of wet kitchen roll in a plastic tray. Place on windowsill, germination very quick.With the aid of tweezers the seedlings are carefully tranplanted into suitable containers before finally planting outside