Gardeners are always looking for innovative ways to make planting easier and more efficient. One such method gaining popularity at the moment is seed snails—a simple and effective technique where seeds are sown into a roll of material that is then wrapped up into a spiral.
If you’re new to this method or simply curious about its benefits, read on to learn all about seed snails and how you can make your own.
What Are Seed Snails?
A seed snail is essentially a strip or roll of material that you cover in compost and then roll up into a sprial. You then plant your seeds into the top of this “snail”. When it’s time to plant, you simply unroll the snail and pop your seedlings out, minimising and root disturbance.
Benefits of Using Seed Snails
Minimal Root Disturbance: Seed snails give you access directly to the roots of your young seedlings when unrolled, meaning you don’t have to pry them out of a pot or container and risk damaging the roots.
Space Saving :A seed snail takes up very little room compared to other seed starting methods. This is perfect for people with limited seed sowing room.
Great for long rooted seedlings: With a seed snail you get a lot of vertical space for your seedlings to grow into. This is perfect for plants that like to grow long deep roots such as peas and beans.
Very Cheap: A seed snail can be very cheap, depending on the material you construct it from. In fact it is perfectly suited to recycling materials for a free seed starting solution!
How to Make Your Own
For those who love a hands-on approach, making your own seed snails is quite simple. Firstly start by choosing what material you will make your seed snail out of. I chose to make mine out of Kraft paper as I wanted to use a natural material but many people will make theirs from a plastic. The foamy plastic often used in laminate flooring underlay is a common choice.
The first place to start will be deciding your material length – this will then decide the overall thickness of your snail and how many seeds you can fit in it. I went with one that was around 4 feet long (the length of my seed tray) which resulted in quite a stout snail so you could definitely go smaller than this too.
My height was decided by the width of the kraft paper rolls, which was 12″ wide but then folded in half so I ended up with a 6″ tall snail.
It is this height that gives the seed snails one of their main advantages for me. They offer much more depth than many other seed-starting methods making them perfect for seeds that like to sprout a long deep root.
I folded my kraft paper in half to give it a little extra stiffness and also help it last longer before breaking up and decomposing.
Then you want to start working on adding your seed compost. I just used a regular seed starting mix that I added some water to.
The water just helps it stick together and retain its shape when you are pressing it into your snail. You want it to be wet enough to form a ball but not so wet that water is dripping out.
My mix was a little too wet here so try and aim for something just a smudge drier than what I ended up with.
Then just start laying your mix out onto your chosen material. The depth you go with the compost is up to you.
Obviously the deeper you go the more compost that will be between the rolls on your snail, giving your seeds more room to grow. The downside to more compost is that it will be harder to roll, and you will use up a lot more compost!
Mine was roughly 2cm or 3/4″ thick.
Then, starting at one end, gradually roll your snail up.
Once you have reached the end then tape your snail up! I used some biodegradable tape here which wasn’t the best at sticking but allows me to throw the whole snail into the compost when I am done with it!
Then once you have finished your snail you can add your seeds to the top. I am planting sweet peas here.
Once your seeds are ready to be transplanted you can unroll the snail and have easy access to your seedlings. If you used something like plastic for your snail you will also be able to redo the process and start again.
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