The Old-School Gardening Hack That Relies On Cornmeal For Sowing Seeds

Planting small seeds is a significant challenge when starting a garden. It's far easier to properly space larger corn or bean seeds when preparing a garden plot than it is tiny ones like basil, broccoli, and tomato, which can be difficult to grasp and guide into the right planting location. There are multiple tactics you can use to try to help you better manage these tiny seeds, ranging from using a cornstarch hack to help you plant carrot seeds to placing seeds in a salt shaker for distribution to using a damp toothpick to select one at a time. Each of these tricks can help to improve the planting process. 

Another hack you can try is to mix them with cornmeal. Tiny, darker seeds will stand out against the light-colored cornmeal substance. You also can place the cornmeal inside the hole as you plant because it won't affect the seed germination process. 

When planting tiny seeds with cornmeal, follow the same procedures you'd use to plant them normally. Simply add an equal volume of cornmeal to the volume of small seeds you are planting. When planting carrots, for example, you want each one to be a few inches apart, so having the ability to pick out and control individual carrot seeds is important. It doesn't matter how much cornmeal may end up in the row as you sow them. The cornmeal simply helps you see and grab them a little easier.

Small seeds have some challenges associated with them. It's more difficult to achieve successful germination with small seeds versus larger ones. They are also less hardy than larger ones, meaning they don't last as long before it's time to plant them. Using cornmeal can help you give these fragile seeds the best chance by helping you plant them properly.

If you don't have cornmeal available, some people will mix the tiny seeds with sand. One downside to sand is that it may have insect eggs or weeds inside, items that you don't want to add to your garden.