Paper Tube Seed Collars For Direct Seed Sowing

I couple of years ago I purchased some ridiculously expensive seeds. I knew I was going to direct sow the seeds in the garden and I knew that eventually I'd forget where they planted and would probably get neglected. That same day I had made a number of homemade seeds pots, in particular some paper tube seed pots and I got the idea to take the paper tube seed pots outdoors in the garden.

Out I went into the garden with extra paper tubes, some seeds and a pair of scissors. I cut the paper tube into sections about an inch tall and sunk them into the soil, I then placed a couple of seeds inside of each of the sections of paper tube and watered them in.

Here's an image of the paper tube seed collars to give you an idea of what it looks like. I took advantage of the warm weather we're having in Chicago today and took my nephew with me into the garden to help me direct sow some seeds. I'm direct sowing Asclepias syrica, Common Milkweed, seeds that I took from some Asclepias seed pods I found in an empty lot this past winter. Common Milkweed is a native perennial plant to Illinois but doesn't produce fertile seeds without cross-pollination, but since I found a patch of them growing together I'm being optimistic. I'm also planting Asclepias currasavica in the garden in the hopes of boosting my butterfly variety this year beyond the 'Red Admiral' Butterflies that already visit the garden in droves.

I don't do a lot of weeding in my garden because even the lowliest of weeds have a benefit of some kind if I think about it, but making seed & seedling collars out of paper tubes helps me remember where I direct sowed seeds in the garden. I find this really helpful especially with seeds that I've never grown before and can't recognize the seedlings from weeds. The seed collars also come in handy the times when I give a garden chore to the nephew (4-year-old) who is always looking to "help." Sometimes I'll let him pull some weeds or dig around in the dirt and with the seed collars he knows what is a "plant" that should be left alone or not stepped on.

The seed collars also help me conserve water because instead of watering all of the garden to keep the seeds moist before they sprout, I can keep the watering concentrated to the areas where I know new seeds have been planted.

If you want to get fancy you can write the name of the seeds on the sections of the paper tube before or after you cut them. Unlike the plastic plant & seed markers the paper tubes will eventually decompose. I suppose that you could also plop a seed collar around an established seedling to protect it from garden slugs and snails. Coat the seed collar with a repellent the same way Margarita Glasses are salted. I'm a big supporter of using items recyclables to grow seeds but if you're new to growing from seed or gardening in general direct sowing seeds where you want them to grow in your garden is a great option, just follow the instructions on the seed packet.

More Seed Starting Posts:

Paper Tube Seed Pot Holders
Homemade Seed Pots
Ghetto Greenhouse
Sandwich Bag Seed Starter
Direct Sowing In The Garden
One Seed Chicago 2009
Edible Gardening in 2009