One of my least favorite gardening chores is thinning out the seedlings. It always pains me to uproot a perfectly good plant to make room for the select few.

While it would seem easier to let the plants figure things out, the Darwinian approach doesn’t work here. When too many seedlings grow too close together they crowd each other and none of them thrive. Everyone gets voted off the island.

Thinning is particularly necessary for carrots and lettuce, which have tiny seeds. Their small size makes it almost impossible to space the seeds properly when planting by hand. I do well to get the seeds sprinkled in a more or less straight row, spread out enough so that they don’t sprout in clumps.

The seed packagers know these tiny seeds are difficult to plant and that you’ll be pulling up the majority of the seedlings you start. This may be one reason most packets of carrot or lettuce seed contain several hundred seeds.

The cynical voice inside my head suggests that it’s also because seeds are relatively cheap to produce and the vendor can offer extra seeds and still make a respectable profit. In addition, the consumer expects to feel a bulge, no matter how slight, in the bottom of an envelope of seeds. For under $2 you get enough carrot seed to feed a rabbit farm.

Latest gadgets

Garden equipment entrepreneurs also have recognized an opportunity in this tiny seed problem. Many garden catalogs offer various pieces of technology to help us space our seeds properly. The only one I have tried was a two-wheeled planter that looked something like a child’s scooter. It gave mixed results, depending on the kind of seed I tried to plant and now has been relegated to the back of the shed. If my garden had been too big to plant by hand, I might have given it more of a chance. I do know large-scale gardeners who use these planters all the time.

Tools designed specifically to plant small seeds and avoid the need for thinning include the Tiny Tom Seed Dispenser, a clear plastic syringe-like thing. There’s also the Dial Seed Sower, another plastic gizmo that releases the smallest seeds one at a time.

The contraption I see advertised most often is the Seedmaster, lately evolved into the Seedmaster II. After years of seeing the Seedmaster in catalogs and noting its resemblance to a backpacker’s trowel, I’m finally becoming curious enough to maybe think about buying one.

According to the product description in the Territorial Seed catalog, the Seedmaster II not only features a baffle system that separates the seeds but also a built-in manual vibrator (apparently a spring in the handle) that jostles the seeds loose so they can be planted. As gardening tools go, this sounds pretty high-tech.

All of these smaller tools are priced under $10. What’s holding me back is the thought that the Seedmaster II might be the Popeil’s Pocket Fisherman of gardening. On some level, using a Seedmaster seems like the sort of compromise that self-respecting gardeners don’t make.

Seeking input

Moreover, in all the conversations I’ve had with vegetable gardeners over the years, not one has mentioned using any of these smaller tools. This also makes me wonder whether this is one of those things that people do but don’t confess.

In any case, the reason I’m giving the Seedmaster a second look is that I have quite a bit of thinning to do in my garden and wish I didn’t. Before I decide whether to bite, I’d be delighted to hear from gardeners who have the skinny on planting tools. If I learn anything worth sharing, I will.