Precision Seeders

[Converted no diggerParticipant]

I am hoping to have a market garden set up for early spring and am looking for ways to help speed things up a bit. Has anyone tried one of these precision seeders while doing the no dig method? Would imagine the surface have to be very fine for best results.

Could be a good time saver for small seeds?

[chrisParticipant]

I use an earthway seeder for some crops like arugula, mini kale, carrots and radishes. I mostly do no-dig and am a big fan of the stuff that Charles is doing, but my methods may be slightly different. I broad fork once in the spring (it works well with my soil), add compost and rake smooth with a 30″ landscape rake. My compost/peat is fine enough to us the seeder in.

Overall the seeders are great for small seeds, but I like Charles approach for lettuce mix. I find a carpet of lettuce planted with a seeder a good cut at first but the next cuts are not great and the product suffers.

[charlesModerator]

Thanks for this Seagull, and Converted do check felix_hof on Instagram, he just posted pics of a 4 row seeder, he is in Germany

[Converted no diggerParticipant]

It is carrots and radish seed I would be interested in getting one for aswell. Thanks for the reply’s.

[FelixParticipant]

I just saw this older topic and wanted to join in.
I have used the sembner 4row seeder a few times now and like its easy design. Works totaly fine with not digging or forking the soil. It works best when using a rake to remove any big lumps of soil/ compost.
Regards Felix

[Converted no diggerParticipant]

Thats the seeder I went for myself. I wont get a chance to try it out until next spring and glad to hear it works good into a compost.

Might be worth putting a bit of extra effort into my composting during the next few months and use the nice crumbly type for the beds that I will be using the seeder on.

[RhysParticipant]

Felix – does this allow you to vary row spacing or is it a standard tool just for certain crops?

I was wondering about parsnip in bin 1 and radish bins 2 to 4 with a 10cm space beteeen rows (so 40cm between rows of parsnip)? Or would the parsnip seeds be too big?

Presumably it is ideal for carrot/radish/carrot/radish if carrots harvested young and early, using a standard 5cm between rows?

[FelixParticipant]

Hey Rhys,
Yes it allows vary row spacing when using every other seed container or even just one. There are different hole sizes and brush settings to choose from: radish and parsnips will require a different one.
Although it must be said that this seeder is best for small seeds and parsnip seeds might get crushed up or destroy the brushes. There is also a sembner seeder 1K with just one row and two seed rolls that come with it which might be better for this job.
Hope this helps.
Best, Felix

[RhysParticipant]

Thanks Felix, I was just trying to get a feel for what the seeder could do. The 1K’s price makes it suitable only for professionals, whereas the 4K may be worth it for an amateur.

I think it will be very good for sowing radish in the spring, carrots through the season.

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