Allotments 4 All
Allotment Stuff => The Basics => Topic started by: terrier on May 26, 2022, 11:30:20
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Just wondering what people use for seed sowing. I re use trays from shop bought plants but they are usually very flimsy and don't last long. Heavy duty trays seem very expensive although last longer. I've just discovered rubber seed trays, around £16 for a 30 cell tray, does anyone use these? Generally, the hole in the base of each cell is so small it is difficult to get the plant out. There are heavy duty Charles Dowding trays that have large holes in the bases of the cells, but they are even more expensive! This GYO can get very expensive.
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I use a mix of open seed trays, cell trays and coir pots depending on the size of seed being sown and whether the plants resent root disturbance when being potted on. I try and buy sets of the sturdier cell trays that come with base trays and clear lids but the last lot didn't even have drainage holes so I need to attack those with a hot skewer.
If you're careful the cell trays can last a few years but I find the drip trays crack easily so I save larger plastic trays form buying chicken legs or breasts in packs of 12 and the long trays from whole salmon fillets (LIDL) for holding the coir pots.
Ive also bought some IKEA metal shelving units which come with optional plastic covers and use these as mini greenhouses within the polytunnel to keep early seed sowings warmer and also keep off the chooks who spend winter and early spring in the polytunnel when it's cold or raining.
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Over the years I have collected a multitude of propagation and pricking out containers, as can be seen here;
https://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Content/P/Prop7-Containers/Propagating%20Containers.htm (https://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Content/P/Prop7-Containers/Propagating%20Containers.htm)
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I too harvest supermarket packaging for garden use but when I make drainage holes, I make sure that they are big enough to easily poke a finger through. My problem with proprietary cell trays is that I can't get the seedlings out without disturbing the roots. Sorry, I don't know how to post a pic of what I mean.
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My problem with proprietary cell trays is that I can't get the seedlings out without disturbing the roots.
I use an old dinner fork, e.g. I find a child's fork or a dessert fork better than say a large dinner fork!
Raid the cutlery drawer and see what you can find that suits your needs! :glasses9:
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Me too. An old table fork is just the right size for slipping down the side of the cell to lift out the seedling.
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Charles Dowding CD60 trays are available from containerwise.co.uk for £5.34 including VAT each. You have to buy 5 though which makes £26.70 plus postage. for me £6.36, which makes a total of £33.06 (for 5) or approximately £6.60 each.
I think they are going to last a long time. I am very happy with them. I find the hole is large enough to push the plugs out with my little finger!
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I like the fork idea, never thought of that, I'll give it a try. I saw the containerwise site, that's where I saw the CD60's.Thanks.
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I find the modules in the Charles Dowding CD60 trays very small and so dry out rather quickly. I do use and very much like the 40 cell containerwise trays though, both the shallow and the deep. They are quite an item of expenditure but over two or three years I’ve invested in a few and now have a good sized set which will last for many years to come. The deep ones work like root-trainers, which are I think equally expensive but frustratingly flimsy and fall apart after three or four uses.
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I had missed that! I might try the deep ones. As you say, root trainers don't have a very long life at all! Mine are now mostly sellotape. I also like the idea of using a small fork. Thanks everyone.
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As with others have used quite a variety over time.
Over the last couple of years have acquired a number of these - https://www.homebargains.co.uk/products/30466-whitefurze-windowsill-propagator-set.aspx (https://www.homebargains.co.uk/products/30466-whitefurze-windowsill-propagator-set.aspx) They are described as windowsill propagators but they are much more sturdy than any others I have seen. The individual trays are about 1/2 the size of typical trays.
They were still in stock at the local store a couple of weeks ago, good value for a fiver.
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I like the CD60 trays as they only require one hand to carry and one hand to push out plugs! The flimsy trays require both, which gets old very fast at peak sowing season. We have some strong green flat trays that have lasted the better part of 20 years, still look new, but have no brand mark :( I wish I knew what to look for as I'd love to get more of them.
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I’m surprised you think rootrainers are not very hardy, I’ve had some for over 15 years and still going strong. I purchased some extra module bits years ago from eBay but still haven’t had to use them! I do store them under cover in my shed as soon as the plants are planted out, so they probably only have a months actual use per year as I use them for sweetcorn, beans , sunflowers and sweet peas.
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Plants and trays last a lot longer if you stop using forks, fingers, spoon etc and use the proper equipment. Use a plug popper board. Even make your own from a few old flat head nails or screws if you are a bit of a tightwad.
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Here the Charles Dowding type trays are pretty standard and apparently have been for years - I think he just looked at what other countries are using to be honest. They are really tough, nice wide holes in the bottom and they come in a wide variety of sizes.
I have some of these (https://shop.agriloja.pt/pt/-/tabuleiro-germinacao_p13632.html?id=937&cat=201&pc=0) - the 40 hole ones.
Years ago some offices at work were chucking out a load of trays - sort of modular storage things that stack. They fit 20 of my little plastic square pots perfectly so I tend to use for the most part.
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My pot & tray store.
Racks to the left are full of pots larger than 4" (10cms)
Rack at the back contains trays on the top shelf and around 1000 pots under 4"(10cms) on the middle shelf.
Bottom shelf is for terracotta pots of sizes up to 6" (15cms)
My store is looking pretty full as a result of my planting out being complete!
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Our allotment association sells pretty sturdy modules and trays, but I don't know who the manufacturer is.
Getting the plant out successfully is affected by how wet or dry it is and how well developed the roots are. I often fail on that, but find that using a couple of plant labels as tongs works. Closer to hand than cutlery and avoids domestic disharmony ...
The design of trays used commercially may be improving: I've bought some lobelia plantlets from two sources and they lifted out easily. But I had watered them first.
I reuse the modules from the plants I buy, but they do not fit the trays I have, so do not use greenhouse space efficiently.
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I reuse the modules from the plants I buy, but they do not fit the trays I have, so do not use greenhouse space efficiently.
I've found this too - the old squarish module sets that fitted two to a seed tray seems to have been replaced by longer ones that only fit one into a tray, thus wasting a lot of space at our end. I suspect they make sense in a commercial nursery, but are a PITA to thee and ee.
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I tried the small fork method and made a right mess, I don't think I have the knack :) As Paulh says, how hydrated the soil is is a make or break on getting the plugs out in one piece.
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Water first, as you would with any plant you're potting on, planting out, lifting and dividing, transplanting. Then slide the tines of the fork down teh side of the cell and gently lift out your seedling with all its roots intact.
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I save larger plastic trays form buying chicken legs or breasts in packs of 12
I do this. Though not in compartments, I use those plastic meat trays with or without loo roll separators, then another tray as the lid.
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I like to use cells for shallot seeds but once they are up I want to pot them on because unlike leeks they seem to object to any crowding.
After fiddling about for ages with spoons & forks I now line the cell with something/anything permeable that will let me lift the heavy contents out with the seedling still in it - because the pathetic smooth, straight unbranched roots at this stage are the worst possible at holding on to what they are growing in. I've used wetwipes cut into quarters, doubled up onion sacks (& the half-cm mesh on mandarin boxes), Jcloths, holey socks and dozens of other things that are either biodegradable or easy to see when tidying up (brown or black socks are only acceptable if 100% cotton or wool).
I would love to use rootrainers for everything else but I object to paying for something of much lower quality than the trays sausages come in - especially if I'm paying a price that could only be justified by using the alloy that beercans are made of - and gold-plated at that.
I thought the retail trade had gone barking mad decades ago - as soon as everything went past 50% profit margins & headed for the 200% that was only normal for shoes - but now it's beyond Upminster and looking to go past Holland.
Cheers.