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Labor-Saving
Ideas |
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Vacuum
Seeder Design
by
Susan
Houghton, Giving Tree Farm |
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Vacuum
seeders can speed the seed sowing process and save tedious
work. We really like this seeder for crops like kale, cabbage,
broccoli, and basil--species with small round seeds that are
hard to handle. It does not work for crops like lettuce, but
we have used it with onions. Our home-made version has a wood
bottom made of 12- by 22-inch plywood with a piece of 1
1/2-inch PVC attached to it (see photo).
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The
top is constructed from a piece of Plexiglas (1/4-inch
thickness) with holes (see photo). Position of the holes
was established by marking them on the Plexiglas with a pen
through a plug tray. The holes can either be drilled
with a very small drill bit or punched with a heated nail.
The Plexiglas is fastened to the bottom board with two pieces
of wood, like a picture frame, with one above and one below.
We made the frame just fit over the edges of the plug tray.
There is a small hole in one end for dumping excess seed back
into a pan.
We connect the seeder to a shop-vac for use. We sprinkle seed
on the Plexiglas surface of the seeder, turn on the vacuum,
shake the excess seed off, the seeds drop one per cell.
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