Space-Saving Seed Snails in the Greenhouse

My greenhouse isn’t small, but it isn’t huge either. In the winter it shelters my three citrus trees, protecting them from frosts and the occasional PNW snowfall. I have a few indoor starts under lights, as well as some basil and micro-greens on the kitchen windowsill, but most of my seed starting happens in the greenhouse starting in January or February.

Top: Lemon, Lime and Kumquat trees. Bottom left to right: Traditional starts, seed snails, kitchen windowsill, office growlights

In the beginning seed starting happens in tiny little cells that are often just 1” square, but before long, those babies need bigger homes, and that’s when I run into space issues. If I transplant 50 seed babies into 3” or 4” pots, I quickly run out of space, and keeping them watered becomes a nightmare until they are ready to go out into the garden.

This idea of either starting or transplanting into a kind of a sushi roll or “seed snail” as they’ve been coined, is a true space-saving wonder, but will it work? I don’t know, it’s my first time using this method.

Some floating row cover, with a layer of parchment, is placed flat and potting soil is added. Then the seedlings are laid across one edge, covered with more soil and rolled like sushi. I secured mine with rubber bands on the outside, and placed a marker where different plants began.

Here’s what it looks like after the fact:

I can fit 25 plants in the space it normally takes to house 6-8 larger pots. The roots have a lot more room to grow and the idea is, you unroll it and add more soil if needed and re-roll if you’re not ready to plant them out yet.

I’m also trying this with some snap peas, and some other crops which traditionally don’t like their roots disturbed as an experiment.

They seem cozy in their new homes, but only time will tell! Gardening is, after all, a lot about trial and error. If you’re more of a visual person I made a YouTube video about the process as well. You can check it out below, or check out my YouTube channel.

For visual learners… a little background and some tips!

Happy Gardening!