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rainbowgardener
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soil wrote:I just made a seedball machine out of a 5 gallon bucket, some desk wheels and some pvc. time to make millions of seedballs fast now.
then what do you do with them all?

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soil
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toss them on our property for wild veggies( the best veggies that is), give them away to others to spread. also will be doing grain seedballs to keep the birds from eating the broadcasted seed.

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soil
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woo hoo gave it a run yesterday and make about 5000 seedballs in 20 minutes. mostly winter wheat, but also kale, broccoli, arugula, bok choy, lettuce, snow peas, and a few other greens.

its so much easier than shaping each one by hand, ill never do that junk again.

ill have to make a drawing of the machine and post it. or get a friend to take a pic on his camera or phone.

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I'm waiting, :D where are the drawings? Pictures, we need pictures, dang you. :lol:


Eric

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applestar
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Me too. 8)

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soil
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ok ill make a drawing for now, will have to wait for someone with a camera to come over for pics.

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soil
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can I upload photos from my post?

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soil
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anyone know about the photo uploading?

I just had a 5 year old help me make a few thousand seedballs in 10 minutes. no problem.

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applestar
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you need to use a photo hosting site like Photobucket.
Webmaster has detailed instructions here :
:arrow: https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3724

Thanks! It sounds like I might be able to get my kids to help too.... 8)

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soil
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bleh too lazy to do that. ill just explain it.

materials

a wood base( I used scrap plywood )
a back stop ( I used a 2x4 scrap)
a 5 gallon bucket
youll need some of these wheels ( https://product-image.tradeindia.com/00143615/b/0/Trolley-Wheels.jpg) or anything you can make do the same job.
something to make a crank ( I used scrap pvc pieces )

start with the base, it needs to be a little bigger than the bucket when on its side. from there you need to mount the wheels so each one is leaning outwards. this will keep the bucket from moving all over the place sideways. space them far enough to where the bucket sits on the wheels and spins freely when turned. the front ones should catch on the lip of the bucket, now you need a back to stop the bucket from sliding forwards and backwards, this also holds the crank in place. drill a hole in the center of the bottom of the bucket. set the bucket on the wheels, there should be a lip near the top of the bucket that should catch on the front wheels. from there space the backing 1/2-3/4 inch behind where the bucket sets. drill a hole where the hole in the bucket meets the backing. from there the crank needs to be hooked on good in the hole on the bucket, it needs to go out from the back of the bucket, through the backing hole and out an extra inch, down a few inches and then back out.

from there it is pretty much done.

to use lift the front lip up some so the seeds stay in rather than roll out.

its best to do batches of seeds. like all small seeds, all medium, all big. and then mix them for broadcasting.

to make seedballs

-add seeds and spray until moist with a spray bottle
-add dry powdered compost/clay mix enough to dry them out and coat once
-repeat with the spray and then followed by more clay/compost mix until desired seed coating thickness is achieved.

set to dry and broadcast as needed.

for those who only need the basics and want to make their own.

-bucket spins sideways on wheels
-crank spins bucket

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applestar
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Wahh! Eric, I bet you understood all that... Would you draw me a diagram? :oops:

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Sheesh!

I would use a pipe floor flange to connect the crank to bucket.
https://www.fdsons.com/black-iron-fittings-black-floor-flange-c-22_204_206_2558.html

[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/1%20DDF%20-%20Helpful%20Gardener%20Misc/Seedballtumbler.jpg[/img]

Soil, Is the bucket level or pitched down like a concrete mixer.

Eric
Last edited by DoubleDogFarm on Tue Jan 10, 2012 3:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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soil
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yup thats pretty much it, except there are four wheels. two front and two back.

thats what we used to connect it too, except its a small plastic one.

now the only thing that would make it better is if a person could stand in front of it, and spin it themselves. I'm thinking foot power somehow like hooked up to a bike pedal system.

otherwise its best operated by two people.

the front end is pitched up like a cement mixer yes. or all of the seeds would just roll out. you want them all mostly in the back end. this is where they tumble best.

DoubleDogFarm
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Treadle or go to your favorite second hand store and buy a barbecue rotisserie motor. Low speed and lots of torque.
https://www.tradenote.net/keyword/Rotisserie/?type=products

Eric

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applestar
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Great! I just needed a little :wink: visual aid. Thanks! :D

:lol: Re: one person operation, I had a vision of a stationary exer-cycle fittd with a carnival water balloon shooter with mist attachment affixed to the handle bars.... :lol:

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soil
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I was thinking a treadle would be sweet. ill have to see if I have the stuff o make one.

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Re: one person operation, I had a vision of a stationary exer-cycle fitted with a carnival water balloon shooter with mist attachment affixed to the handle bars....
You will need a little scooper attached to one of the pedals. As it comes around it scoops a little clay mixture and flings it into the bucket. You will have to pedal backward to make it work :P

Eric

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[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/1%20DDF%20-%20Helpful%20Gardener%20Misc/Seedballtumbler001.jpg[/img]

You may need to add a weight to the bucket to act like a flywheel.

Eric
Last edited by DoubleDogFarm on Tue Jan 10, 2012 3:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Tilde
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It might be my limited visualization skills but what? I don't get the seedball maker. All I can think is hand rolling ala meatballs.

How does the machine do it?

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soil
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its simple. the seeds tumble constantly in the bucket, little by little you add layer after thin layer of clay/soil to the seeds. so they are covered in soil.

ever seen pelletized grass seed for sale? same thing just with whatever seeds I want.

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Tilde
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Oooohh ... Like a Rock tumbler but additive instead of subtractive.

Gotcha, thanks!

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soil
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yea that is a much better way of thinking of it.

this way they get a head start being in there own little soil ball. it holds moisture and has biology. it keeps birds and insects from eating the seed as well.

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Tilde
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Well, sure, I get that - like seed cakes I used to make as a kid. Well, mud pies.

I just couldn't wrap my head around the physics of creating seed balls using the properties of mild centrifugal force and increasing stickiness andsurface testion (surface tension? Am I thinking of the right thing?).

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soil
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seed balls doing great, all kinds of things growing with little rain.

wheat
barley
lettuce
kale
broccoli
onion(bunching and bulb)
leek
arugula
bok choy
other greens

still too early to see how the spring germination plants do.

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soil wrote:woo hoo gave it a run yesterday and make about 5000 seedballs in 20 minutes. mostly winter wheat, but also kale, broccoli, arugula, bok choy, lettuce, snow peas, and a few other greens.
I'm still not understanding this method completely. I am mostly interested in vegetable gardening. Does this method work well for veggies? If you were to make seed balls for the above veggies would they just be scattered randomly in your garden bed then? And do you mix different seeds together or keep one type of seed in one ball?

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soil
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well to be honest there are a few ways you can use seedballs.

and yes you can use them for veggies.

first would be like you said and instead of planting seeds in your bed, you scatter the seedballs and water away. if you add more than one type of seed you don't end up with either a monocrop(all one crop) or plants all in rows(which makes things easy for pests), but if all you want is say lettuce in a bed and want to use seedballs, go right ahead and make some with just lettuce.

if you are a person with more land than just a city lot, and have no "Beds" you can just toss them out in some unused or prepared land and irrigate. preferably from overhead at first until the seeds sprout.

you can also just toss them out and let nature take over. winter rains will water them and since they are allowed to develop taproots most plants are drought tolerant when summer comes and need little irrigation.

with the previous two where you just toss out the seed, you can also learn a lot from them. for example a new gardener might think that this full sun spot is best for a tomato or some lettuce. when you use seedballs and lots of different seeds. the seeds choose the spots that best fit the needs of the plant. when you observe where things grow youll be surprised at where things pop up and grow best. which helps you mimic that result in years to come.

you can do this with any seed, veggies, herbs, trees, grains, grass, ornamentals.

Garden_by_Faith
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Good to know. Thanks. I might try it for a learning experience since I am new to all of this. Observe, record, ya know.

I like my things nice and tidy though, so once I figure it out this approach won't be the best for me. I definitely like my veggies in a row lol Unfortunately I do not live on property, but I am on about 3/4 of an acre which is just enough space to try things out.

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A seedball, doing its thing :D
[img]https://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll272/applesbucket/A67DBAF4-09CA-4995-B761-21A60E8131EF-25290-000011406EC7430E.jpg[/img]



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