What seeds are available in seed paper?
Over 40+ years we have tried to embed hundreds of different seeds into our handmade paper. In fact this week we made Thai Basil seed paper for a customer, which is only the second time in the last 40 years with this seed.
There are 3 main factors which determine which seeds work in seed paper:
- Seed size and shape
- Germination from seed paper
- Cost & Availability of the seed
1. Seed size and shape
Small flat seeds work best to not only hold in the paper, but also remain in the paper when printing. Seeds like Australian Natives Swan River Daisy, Bottlebrush, and Tea Tree are very small and relatively flat so are perfect for embedding in seed paper.
Herbs like Oregano & Thyme, are also very small so work well. However as Thyme and Oregano are round, we do tend to vacuum our printers after printing on these seeds as a few roll out of the paper during printing. Coriander and Rosemary are larger and round shape and don't embed in the paper.
Flowers like Chamomile, Forget Me Not, Poppy, Alyssum and Ageratum are all different sizes and shapes, all which are small, embed well in paper.
2. Germination from the seed paper
Once we know the seed will embed in the paper, we then have to make sure it will stay in the paper during printing. At Paper-Go-Round we only use water based ink jet printers which do use any heat, and more importantly the ink (being water based) washes out of the paper, when soaked in water prior to planting.
Once we have printed we soak in water and keep the paper in a sun spot, and water regularly to make sure the seeds germinate. Some seeds require smoke to germinate, so we can't use in our seed paper. All varieties we use germinate in 5 - 21 days, which is another reason why we love the wild flower Swan River Daisy as it is native to Central Australia, and germinates quickly (5-7 days) and can be grown anywhere in Australia.
When testing a new seed type it takes us 16 weeks, ensure embedding in the paper, its able to be printed on, and able to germinate after being printed on.
3. Cost and Availability of the seed
When choosing seeds the last factor is availability and cost to buy bulk quantity of the seeds. Seeds like Strawberry are small and embed well in seed paper, they also germinate well from seed paper, but are incredibly expensive and make strawberry seed paper unviable.
For full details on all the seeds we make at Paper-Go-Round link is here:
