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Submitted to: HortTechnology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 10/25/2018 Publication Date: 12/1/2018 Publication URL: https://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/6471234 Citation: Brennan, E.B. 2018. The slide hammer stick seeder – a novel tool for planting small seeds. HortTechnology. 28:764-775. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTTECH04122-18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTTECH04122-18 Interpretive Summary: Humans have been developing hand seeding tools since the dawn of agriculture over 10,000 years ago. Jab-type planter were extremely useful for planting large seeded crop such as corn in the early 1900s but are not well-suited for direct seeding plants with small seeds such as popular herbs like basil or highly nutrition vegetables like amaranth. This paper describes how to make and use a novel, inexpensive hand seeder that works extremely well for precise seeding of small seeded plants. The planter is called the slide hammer stick seeder and delivers small quantities of the seed to the soil due to the action of the sliding hammer shaft on the handle. Technical Abstract: Many important herbs (e.g., Mentha sp., Thymus sp.), underutilized and nutritious vegetables (e.g., Portulaca oleracea, Amaranthus tricolor), and important biological control plants (e.g., Lobularia maritima) have small seeds ('1.5 mm length) that are difficult to plant with raw (i.e., unpelleted) seed using existing seeders. A novel tool known as the slide hammer stick (SHS) seeder was developed for direct planting of raw seeds of small-seeded plants at relatively precise seeding rates and spacing. The SHS seeder is a jab-type planter made primarily from electrical conduit tubing and other materials that are inexpensive and readily available in a hardware store. The interchangeable seed hopper is made from a plastic vial that has one or more holes depending on the desired seeding rate and seed size. Detailed plans are provided for how to make and use the SHS seeder. Seed vial hole specifications are listed for the precise seeding of a variety of small seeded plants including chives (Allium sp.), basil (Ocimum sp.), A. tricolor, sweet alyssum (L. maritima), purslane (P. olearcea), thyme (Thymus sp.) and mint (Mentha sp.) that ranged in size from approximately 200 to 11,000 seeds per gram. The diameter of the hole that was suitable for discharging the seed from the vial was always larger than the average seed length, and the ratio of hole size to seed length ranged from 1.07 to 1.62. Seeding rate uniformity evaluations were conducted for these plants using vials with 1 versus 2 holes and showed that the seeding rate was higher by an average of 58 to 218% from vials with 2 holes than with 1 hole. For the majority of the plants evaluated, the SHS seeder was able to consistently dispense a few as 1 to 3 seeds. The SHS seeder has been useful for interplanting alyssum as an insectary plant for aphid control between existing plants of organic lettuce, and for intercropping cultivars of purslane as a novel vegetable in between transplanted organic broccoli plants. This novel seeding tool has many potential uses for direct, hand seeding in vegetable and herb production systems and in weed research trials. The seeder could be automated and made with a variety of alternative materials. |
