Nine standard seed dispensers
Every format below is a standard build, ready to configure with the mesh plate matched to your seed.
Fill, place, analyse or grow
What researchers say
“Ideal for fast filling of steel balls in 96 well format. Filling only a few rows is also possible. The dispenser is easy to use and any surplus of balls is easy to gather again.”
“A tool that must not be missed in any laboratory. It solves the problem of manually dropping and missdropping beads into plates. What used to take minutes is now done in seconds.”
“We searched for a bead dispenser for 96 well plates for over ten years and struggled to find something reliable. What used to be tedious and time consuming is now done in a few seconds.”
Seed, germination and grinding reference
The numbers labs ask us for most: how far apart to sow each seed, how deep to cover it, and which beads and speed to grind it with for seed DNA.
Sowing distance and depth by seed type
Starting points for germination trays and plates. Adjust for cultivar and substrate.
| Seed type | Seed size | Spacing on tray | Sowing depth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arabidopsis thaliana | 0.3 to 0.5 mm | 3 to 5 mm | Leave on the surface, light required |
| Lettuce | 1 to 2 mm | 8 to 10 mm | Leave on the surface, light required |
| Brassica and cabbage | 1.5 to 2.5 mm | 10 mm | 5 to 10 mm |
| Onion | 2 to 3 mm | 8 to 12 mm | 5 to 10 mm |
| Tomato and paprika | 3 to 4 mm | 12 to 15 mm | 5 mm |
| Wheat | 5 to 8 mm | 15 to 20 mm | 10 to 20 mm |
| Maize | 8 to 12 mm | 25 to 30 mm | 20 to 30 mm |
Useful shortcut: allow at least one and a half seed widths between seeds, and cover to roughly the length of the seed itself. Compiled from ISTA and FAO seed testing guidance and our own customers’ protocols.
Grinding seed: which media for which sample
Match the media to the hardness of the seed and the volume of the vessel, not to the plate format.
| Sample | Beads or media | Vessel | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small fresh seed: Arabidopsis, lettuce, brassica | 3.0 mm zirconia with a 2.8 mm steel ball | Tube or deepwell plate | One or two beads per well is enough |
| Medium seed: tomato, paprika | A single 4 to 6.3 mm steel or zirconia ball | 2 mL tube or 4 mL vial | Cut the sample back to 50 mg or less first |
| Cereal and hard seed: wheat, maize | Three 3.2 mm balls, or one 6.3 mm chrome steel ball | Reinforced vial | Usually powdered inside half a minute |
| Very hard or oily seed: palm, sunflower | Tungsten carbide, or grind cryogenically | Steel vial | Steel on its own often will not carry enough energy |
| Leaf punches for genotyping | One 4 mm steel or zirconia ball | 96 deepwell plate | About five punches, up to 50 mg |
Choose zirconia or silica when the buffer is corrosive or phenol based, or when metal ions would interfere. Scale bead mass to sample mass rather than filling the well. Drawn together from published bead beating guidance and lab feedback.
Homogenising method and speed
Which instrument suits which job, and where to start on speed and run time.
| Method | Typical speed | Media | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oscillating bead mill | 25 to 30 Hz, 30 s up to 2.5 min | Matched to the sample | Plates and tubes; DNA, RNA and protein |
| Reciprocating grinder | Around 1500 rpm, 1 to 2 min | 4 mm steel or zirconia balls | Seed and leaf DNA at high throughput |
| Vortex with a plate adapter | Full speed, 2 to 10 min | 0.1 to 0.5 mm beads | Microbes, spores and soft tissue |
| Cryogenic mill | Dry grind under liquid nitrogen | Steel or tungsten carbide | Hard or oily seed, and high molecular weight DNA |
Work in short bursts with pauses to cool, since heat damages nucleic acids. The larger and harder the seed, the denser the media and the more energy it takes.
Precision seed dispensing for plant breeding and germination research
LabTIE seed dispensers handle more than 120 seed types, including Arabidopsis thaliana, lettuce and onion, sowing into trays, plates and tubes in about 45 seconds. Used across plant breeding, germination assays and DNA extraction workflows, they place one seed into every position, run after run.
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Why sowing seeds by hand falls short
Placing seeds into a plate or tray one at a time with tweezers is slow and easy to get wrong. Small seeds like Arabidopsis thaliana are easy to double up or miss entirely, and static can make them jump away from the well. As sample counts grow from a single tray to a full 96 or 384 well plate, manual sowing becomes the bottleneck before the germination assay even begins.
How a mesh plate seed dispenser works
A LabTIE seed dispenser uses an exchangeable mesh plate sized to your seed, from the smallest Arabidopsis seed up to larger seeds like lettuce or onion. You fill the reservoir, place the dispenser onto your plate, tray or petri dishes, and slide it once. Every position receives one seed in the same motion, in about 45 seconds for a full plate or tray.
Where seed dispensers are used
Plant breeding and variety trials. Germination and vitality assays. Arabidopsis and other model organism research. Seed counting and DNA extraction workflows.
Standard formats and custom builds
LabTIE offers seed dispensers for petri dishes, germination trays, and 45, 48, 96 and rectangular well formats, ready to buy directly. For containers outside those standards, our own tech division builds a custom mesh plate and converter around your exact tray, plate or tube rack.
Get the right dispenser for your lab
Whether you sow a single tray or run full plates daily, a LabTIE seed dispenser removes manual seed placement from your workflow and gives you a sowing you can trust, every time.