PELLETED SEED

General tips / questions on seeding & planting

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PLUMPUDDING
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I've noticed a few posts mentioning pelleted seed, and several of you say you like Moles seeds. I found their web site and see that they have quite a few varieties of pelleted seeds.

How far apart would you sow pelleted carrot seed? Would you say put them an inch apart and expect most of them to grow?

Also what other veg seed in pelleted form would you recommend over ordinary seed?

I've never used it before, but if the germination is reliable it seems like a nice easy way to sow economically and evenly.

Also do you have to make sure the soil stays moist to soften the coating until they have germinated? Any other tips and comments would be appreciated.
Monika
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Plumpudding, I used pelleted carrot seeds from Moles last year (Artemis and Trevor) and was very happy with them, in fact, I think we have had the best carrots ever in all my 55 years or so of growing vegetables. I have ordered them again from Moles but because there are so many seeds in each packet and I think carrot seeds don't keep well, I am only going to use Artemis which was especially good and we are still harvesting them (after having had - 6C early in December).

The distance between seeds you mention sounds about right. I probably did sow them a bit closer but had to do some thinning which produced little edible roots early on.
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Johnboy
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Hi Plumpudding and Monika,
Because I suffer from arthritic hands I have used Moles pelleted seeds for quite a few years now and with great success.
I plant Carrot seed an inch apart and never thin until there is something meaningful to eat on the end. The varieties I have grown are Autumn King 2 and Nante 2 and both have given very acceptable results and by growing in succession have fresh carrots for a very long time. The last crop of Autumn King 2 are now ready for harvest but after this awful year I fear there is some slug damage. I have sown these at 1 inch in the apart second week of August and thinned out to 3 inches and although there are some nice carrots they are somewhat nibbled.I pulled 3 yesterday and of the three only one was healthy enough to store.
There will be enough to store but only by a whisker.
I also use pelleted Leek seed and these are module sown and planted out when they reach the stem size of a normal pencil around 8-9 inches tall. Some people think that that is too large but it has worked for me for many years.
I can really recommend pelleted seed as to me they are so easy to use and your sowing can be very precise whereas sowing carrot seeds can be extremely haphazard to say the least.
JB.
PLUMPUDDING
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Thank you very much for that Monika and Johnboy, I'm definitely going to give them a try.

Another thing I read about pelleted seeds was that some are primed so that they have been soaked then dried to keep them just on the point of germinating, but that they won't keep. I'm sure this is done and very advantageous for farmers wanting things to grow a.s.a.p. on a large scale. Is it stated on the packet whether pelleted seed has been primed or not?

It obviously isn't a problem in your experience, but I just wondered.
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Johnboy
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Hi Plumpudding,
To the best of my knowledge the seeds that are pelleted from Moles Seeds are not pre-germinated prior to coating.
I had several Carrot seeds left over from last year and planted half a row this year and they germinated well. I would have thought that had they been pre-germinated they would not have been of any use this year.
I appreciate that this is really no proof at all but merely an observation.
JB.
PLUMPUDDING
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Hi Johnboy, Thanks for that. I ordered pelleted carrot seed, and a couple of other veg, along with a packet of greenshaft peas and some flower seeds yesterday morning and they have been delivered this morning- brilliant, and generous quantities too. I can't wait to get sowing.
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Colin_M
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Just to add to this, Johnboy gave me some Moles pelleted Calabrese seed a few years ago and it germinated & grew faultlessly for several years running. It was almost as if the coating helped extend the life of the seed.

Definitely worth trying out.
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Primrose
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I would love to use pelleted carrot seed but the frugalista in me insists that I first use up all the free carrot seeds which have come with my Kitchen Garden magazine.

But if you would kindly send us some free pelleted carrot seed with a future edition I'm sure it would be very welcome because thinning out carrots is just a fiddly process............! :lol:
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Geoff
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If the Carrot pelleted seeds work as well as the Lettuce Split Pills that I sowed last Friday they must be worth a try - 12 out of 12 are up and looking good.
PLUMPUDDING
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I'm very pleased with the pelleted seed I got from Moles.

The carrots and parsnips are almost 100% germination, although I suspect the gap is due to a rogue snail.

As I've said I hadn't tried them before and it is so much easier to manage the carrots especially when you don't have to disturb them by thinning them out. Thanks for the recommendation Johnboy.
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