Start carrots in seed gel?

So I have been unsuccessful sowing carrots directly into the garden and getting any germination. I was looking on the internet for some suggestions to help get some going and found this on Pinterest:

“Carrots and parsley, with their tiny seeds and long germination times, make good candidates for pre-sprouting on a layer of gel. While commercial mixes are available, a simple cornstarch base works fine. Mix a cup of water with a tablespoon of cornstarch. Heat, stirring, until the mixture thickens. Pour into a flat pan such as a pie plate and let set. Then sprinkle the seeds on top. Make sure there’s a bit of space around each seed. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap or a pane of glass to hold in moisture.

Within a few days, roots will begin to emerge from the seeds. Again, don’t let them get too long. If you break off the growing tip, the seedling will die. As soon as I can see the seeds are growing, I plant them. Take the pan outside and scoop each seed out with a small spoon, dropping it, along with its surrounding gel, into a hole about a half-inch deep. A covering of vermiculite makes it easier for the tiny leaves to break through the soil crust. Seedlings should appear within the week, as opposed to three weeks when planting seeds straight from the packet.

Our erratic spring weather can go from cool and damp to hot and windy in a matter of hours. Keeping seed beds damp for three weeks is challenging, to say the least. I have significantly higher germination rates when I plant pre-sprouted seeds, each encased in its own wet glob of gel.

Another advantage of pre-sprouting carrots is that it eliminates a lot of tedious thinning. You already know that the seeds you are planting are viable. Therefore, you can space them precisely where you want them. I usually plant carrots about four inches apart in all directions, across a four-foot wide bed.”


Has anyone tried making the cornstarch gel and planting carrots this way? In case it matters, I’m in Canada so it might be the cold temps keeping my carrots from sprouting.

Thanks for input!

Interesting way for germinating carrot seeds. I have tried germination in 1" of medium grade vermiculite and carefully transplanted to seed cups with Mel's Mix.

My carrot seeds are sown directly into the beds, 1/4" to 1/2" deep, covered lightly with a MM blend that has more peat in the mix, to help hold the water on the seeds longer. I cover the bed with a 50% shade cloth laying directly on top and lightly water on top of it to keep the bed moist. I keep an eye on them and when the seeds sprout I will raise the cloth 1' above them until the true leaves get going, then the cloth goes away. I still have to keep he soil moist on top until the sprouts have enough foliage to shad the soil then I can decrease the watering intervals and start thinning.

OG and YS, your methods sound good. Last fall, I direct sowed in 16 holes and covered with medium vermiculite. I use a spray bottle or the mister on the hose attachment. Peat moss would be another light cover for the seeds.

Re the original post …
 Make up you corn flour base , when it is cool pour or spoon it it in to  into a fair sixed zip lock plastic bag .  Let it cool to room temp and than add your seeds  . hold it to the light so you can see that you have distributed the seeds evenly in the paste / flattening the bag out helps a lot . 
    
 Leave it in the dark warm 65 oF airing cupboard for two days by now you should start to see the tiny tips of the seed growing . When the chits are half an inch long  (12.5 mm ) they will have fine hair roots on them and a bit of yellowish greenery appearing .

  In your sowing area make your drill 1/2 inch deep  , snip off a 1/2 " triangle off the corner of the bag and  gently and carefully squeeze the sprouted seeds  along the drill or at each station if you are station sowing as per Mel's methods .

 With a bit of thought such as shaking the paste to the bottom of the poly bag and gentle pressure on the rolled up bag it's possible to sow  very thinly and not crush the sprouted seeds .
 

 I have had great success in the past  doing is as above , using fungicide free wall paper paste , but nowadays it all has a fungicide added that kills every including  the seeds. 


I've currently failed at trying to get the water retaining crystal jellies to grow nasturtium seeds ..they went stinky after five days .  Should have soaked them for 24 hrs and planted them in wet holes .

I found that a 1/2 teaspoon of the crystals can be diluted nearly a pint of thick clear paste if you add an egg cup of warm water at a time and let it re jellify after stirring it in  ..it  took about 3 hrs in total with me popping the jug in the fridge after each addition of warm water & a good stir .
 
 At present I'm far too busy to re try the experiment with other seeds  as it's fine weather here in the UK and lots of things outside are my priority at present as I've already station sowed 168 positions with  flyaway carrot seeds in two's  . ( 326 seeds in total )