I really like mimulus maximus (monkey flower). This variety has large blooms (about 2.5")
They have to be the tiniest seed. I wish I had bought pelletted seed. So small, that I'm not positive the seed made it to the soil. I used a plant label to move the seed off the package and onto the soil surface. They were barely a "speck"

The smallest I've ever used- absolutely raw begonia seeds.

Karen

Astilbe. They were like specks of dust! Never again.

Karen

Begonia seeds. Loos like dust.

I'd have to say Wintergreen seeds .. absolutely like powder! I was astonished when they came up because I really wasn't sure I got them on the soil! Personally, I'm not a fan of pelleted seeds since they seem to delay germination quite a bit.

I think it was Lisianthus & begonias. My eyesight wouldn't be good enough now. I'd look for pelleted seeds.
sewNsow

mimulus .. begonias.. and there is another I can't think of right now. all dust.. just hard to work with.. I collected mimulus seeds and put them in a zip bag.. what a mistake.. they stuck to the sides and I couldn't get them out.. just horrible

I'm not sure whether it was petunia, alyssum or lobelia. Below a certain size, they're just fuzzy blurs.

I second lisianthus, and also petunia. I've become a big fan of pelleted seed as my eyesight has diminished with age. I've also had some really tiny agastache seeds....look like dust!
Thank goodness for seed spoons.

Has anyone tried the rubber-bulb-and-hypodermic needle mic ro seeders?

A gardening nurse gave me a blunt-tip needle, and I can attach a bulb from a big eyedropper or turkey baster ... but how well do they work? Don't I need some porous plug in side the needle to keep seeds from being sucked right into the bulb?

I usually use a soda-straw spoon to scatter a small number of seeds onto a dry white saucer.

Then I pick up as many as I want per cell on a fingertip, then brush them off into the cell.

One of these is a 3/8" dowel.
I think one is a skinny chopstick, perhaps whittled down.
One is a very fat bamboo skewer.
If you wrap Scotch tape tightly around the plastic, it will slide on the wood so you can adjust the size of the "spoon ... but that's not useful. Usually I just want the tip to be the scoop.

I also have a 1/64th tsp measuring spoon - much too big for dust-like seeds!

I never tried one of the bulb seeders. But cheap seed spoons work great.

http://www.leevalley.com/en/ga...

Karen

Hmmm I have some syringes and micro needles that I use to inject GA3 into stubborn seeds, I think I might try it on the itsy bitsys! Thanks for the idea Rick! Now I'll have to find something good practice on.

Karen, thanks for the feedback on the seed spoons. I was just looking at those from Lee Valley the other day. I'm going to order some when I order this summer (too bad it is too late for my winter sowing )

Yes, thanks Karen. I was just at Lee Valley and bought more of these: http://www.leevalley.com/en/ga...
My favorite seed starting trays. Might have to go back and get those little spoons

I think you'll like them, Jennifer. There are two spoons, each with a little "bowl" at both ends. Each bowl is a different size, and one of them is useful for seeds of any size.

Karen

>> Hmmm I have some syringes and micro needles that I use to inject GA3 into stubborn seeds, I think I might try it on the itsy bitsys!

Be careful you don't suck the seeds up into the syringe, or get them stuck inside the needle! I think that, ideally, the bore of the needle would be a little smaller than the seed so they are held on the tip.

Someone suggested hooking some Tygon or rubber tubing onto the syringe or the needle. Then you could apply vacuum by sucking on the tube.

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I didn't realize how small those one-seed spoons are! That looks great. Next time I order from Lee Valley, I'll grab some. They would make great stocking stuffers.

http://www.leevalley.com/en/ga...


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Here are some links for the commercial $20 - $26 needles-with-rubber bulb product:

Precision English Seeder by Tenax Corporation
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003D0RNV8/

"The Pro-Seeder makes it easy to plant small seeds easily. It uses a unique vacuum style action that picks up seeds and then holds them in place on the tip until you are ready to plant them."

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003D0RNV8/

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007P3U3LG/

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007P3U3LG/


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I like these Norpro spoons for measuring seed-trading packets. They go down to 1/64th tsp.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009X1P9S/



P.S.
According to an Amazon review by "laffin_boy", here are the actual volumes of the spoons along with the label the manufacturer gave them :

TAD = 1/4 tsp
DASH = 1/12 tsp <<<< not 1/8 >>>
PINCH = 1/16 tsp
SMIDGEN = 1/32 tsp
DROP = 1/64 tsp

I also found that, especially with larger seeds, these oval-shaped, shallow spoons held slightly fewer seeds than a squarish, deeper set of measuring spoons held.

So now I have a "big 1/16 tsp" and a "small 1/16 tsp" spoon!

Here's a video demo of several types of seeders, including seed spoons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

Karen

And no one has mentioned foxglove? pure powder!

No way. Foxglove is huge compared to begonia. And foxglove are like granules of salt. Begonia seeds are literally like dust.

From google images
http://blog.northerngardener.o...

Karen

Gotta admit, I've never seen begonia seeds in person.