Repurpose Extra Golf Tees For A Clever Seed Starting Hack

Basil, thyme, and a host of other culinary herbs double as natural pest repellants when planted in the garden, but one of the trickiest parts about growing these plants is handling their tiny seeds. In addition to being hard to see, they're difficult to pick up and place in the right position in a seed-starting tray, pot, or in-ground garden. It's easy to drop to many of them in one spot, sow them at the wrong depth, or simply lose them to a breeze. Making seed-starting tape can prevent these problems, but it requires some prep work. If you need to sow some itty-bitty seeds right away, a spare golf tee may be your best tool.

A golf tee's tip can help you nail the depth and spacing of herb seeds. It's also handy for sowing the incredibly small seeds of popular crops such as lettuce and carrots, as well as botanical eye candy like tropical orchids. Plus, the tee's tip can help you pick up tiny seeds when wetted slightly. The surface tension of the water helps the seed stick to surfaces such as tee tips and the ends of thin paintbrush handles. 

Though some gardeners use toothpicks for sowing tiny seeds, a golf tee is simpler to manipulate, especially if you suffer from mild hand tremors, arthritis, or another issue that affects finger dexterity. A tee is thicker than a toothpick and therefore easier to grab and maneuver, even if your hands are giving you trouble. Its tip is also larger than that of a toothpick, so it doesn't require as much precision when being used to pick up a speck-sized seed.

Before opening your seed packet, use the golf tee's point to draw lines in the soil that are the proper depth for whatever you are sowing. Pick up seeds one at a time with the dampened tee tip. Then, brush them against the side of the little furrow you've created to gently dislodge them from the tee. Repeat this process, making sure that your seeds are placed the distance apart recommended on the seed packet. No packet? No problem. Look up how deep your seeds should be planted for successful growth and how far each one should be from its neighbors. Generally speaking, you should leave 6 to 8 inches between small herb plants such as thyme and oregano and thyme. Herbs that grow a bit larger — sage and rosemary, for instance — should be about 12 to 18 inches apart. Sow seeds closer together and thin out the weakest seedlings to achieve this layout.

If no golf tees are available to help you sow tiny seeds, don't fret. There are plenty of other thin, blunt-tipped objects that can assist you with this task. A pencil with a slightly dull point is a good substitute. The eraser makes it easy to plant a variety of flower seeds that are small but not miniscule. The pencil's tip can be used for planting your littlest herb, veggie, and flower seeds. As with the golf-tee method, moistening the tip or eraser helps the seeds cling to it for fuss-free transport. Plus, both ends of the pencil can be used to make little planting holes or trenches.