288 cell trays

16 years ago

I ordered some 288 cell trays and they do fit in the standard 1020 trays but being at least half the depth. These are the trays I intend to use to start my seeds in. In past years I just used the standard 72 cell trays and sat them on top of the heating mats. Now the bottom of the soil would be suspended above the heating mat. I'd like to have the bottom of the cells as close to the heating mat as possible.

One thought I had was I have some old 1020 trays that I could cut up and sort of manufactur shorter tray. The 288 cell tray has holes in the bottom of each cell so I need to put something under the cells. Maybe there's a special short tray that I can buy or would my best bet be modifying the old trays I have. I only need two 288 cell trays this year.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

barrie2m_(6a, central PA)
16 years ago
The reason for the lesser cell depth is to keep cell dimentions more in proportion. If you need to have direct contact on the heating mats you could just use the bare trays until you get germination. I don't use bottom heat and I stick 2- 1x1" slats in the supporting tray below my 144 cell trays for reasonable support.

I never used my 144 trays for peppers because transplanting from them is more time consuming than just planting 6 rows in an uncelled tray. Likely the seedlings can only be in the 288 tray for two weeks before you need to plant up. In my opinion the smaller cell trays are best for smaller seeded herbs.
cmpman1974
16 years ago
Because I have a habit of growing an ridiculously large number of VARIETIES of peppers in a given year, I start my seeds in 200 cell plug trays. I put the whole plug tray under heat in a 1020 standard tray with a clear dome on top.

This makes sorting individual varieties easier (not easy still) by using a chart. If I was planting a lot of a few varieties, I'd skip plug trays and go directly to flat sowing as Bmoser said. It would be SO much easier to plant 100 plants of 5 varieties than 1 plant of 100 varieties. :)

Either way, no reaaon the 1020 tray will block too much heat. I think you'll be fine. If you have to, crank the heat up a bit on the mat to compensate for the additional plastic layer between the heat source and plug tray.

Chris
Related Discussions
using plug trays
Q
Comments (9)
Correct veggiecanner. That's what I was trying to convey in the first post. Exactly what varieties of vegetables are you wanting to start in these 288 cell trays? Again, I find them useful for things that do not need to be repotted, but rather planted directly into the ground as soon as they come up. Otherwise it's simply a waste of my time to keep repotting. Using a Plug System " ...most growers are using 32 four-connecting-cell units to fit in a 128-cell plug tray for seedling propagation (Fig. 12). At transplanting, four young seedlings in a four-cell unit are planted directly into the soil and left to grow. This method has a similar cropping time and final yield as the system using 288-cell plugs. However, it reduces the labor cost by more than 30%. " zeedman 5, They're actually ok for certain types of peppers, onion, and tomatoes because they are slow starters. You certainly wouldn't want to plant most melons in such a cell because they grow so fast. wayne_5, Plug trays have their place. If commercial growers time it so that they can get a head start and sell them at the proper stage of growth so as not to be stunted, then it's fine. But there is very little room in the 288 count tray for one seedling. It is best they be moved as soon as the first set of true leaves start to show. Same for 392, 406, 512 and other cell tray counts higher than 488. Most commercial growers diligent and on tight schedules. They may start in high count cell trays, but they also repot as soon as the first set of true leaves start to show/are forming. There are different depths as well. 4 inch deep cell trays are going to be better than the shallow trays. It is absolutely essential that if you start seeds in such small cells that they be moved ASAP to larger containers or planted out when the true leaves are forming (after the cotyledons) - otherwise growth will be stunted for a dramatically lower yield. Pick them up by the leaves - not the stem - which is the more fragile than the leaves. If you doubt this, try it yourself by planting some out on time, and waiting a week or two or more to plant more out. Document their growth and yield. Growing Vegetable Transplants In Plug Trays Transplant Performance Research (Impact of Transplant Age and Cell Size) Plug and Transplant Production for Organic Systems
...See More
help!! with purple ruffle basil
Q
Comments (6)
It's a sad but true fact of life that not all nurserymen are honest. A common and unscrupulous practice is for them to wait until potted plants are beyond the stage where they should have been potted-on, very pot-bound, so they spend a couple of weeks spraying those 'old' plants with quick-acting fertiliser (high in nitrogen) to green up the top bits and make them look lush and healthy. In fact, with pot-bound plants, it's the roots which are beyond saving. They're all curled up and squashed, and they can't feed from the soil - a bit like trying to drink through a crushed or bent straw. Once those roots have grown all curled up and squashed, it's impossible to get them to straighten out, so the plant is handicapped from a very young age. They'll never grow to optimum size or condition, IF they grow at all! It's vital, when buying plants, to tip them out of their pots and inspect the roots. If it's all roots and no dirt, and especially if those roots go round and round, don't buy it. The other problem of course, is that there will be many plants in one tiny pot - you might have to discard all the weaklings and keep one or two of the stronger ones, with the straightest roots. Am I correct in guessing that these plants were bought at a bargain-basement price? Something else to watch for when buying plants! It's a lurk, not unlike the supermarkets who sell packaged goods at half price or less - sure as eggs, they're close to or past theire Use By Date. Caveat emptor!
...See More
288 cell tray of Impatients -now what?
Q
Comments (2)
Got any strawberry jars? You know the kind with multi openings for strawberry plants. If so, start putting them in those. It's best done when the plants are little and believe me, they fill those holes and make a beautiful upright display, I do it every year in my shady areas that are too dry to grow anything. Another favorite of mine is an impatient crate. If you can get a wooden crate with slats at least an inch, more is better, apart, line with garbage bags leaving top open for watering, fill with soil, cut slits in the plastic and insert plants in sides and then plant the top, again, best done while they are young. By the time they fill out you will have a mound of impatients. Plus it's easy to water, I just leave the hose on a slow drip for a few hours, once or twice a week depending on weather. Once you get the soil totally moist all the way through, it will stay that way for a long time. Make a sack of heavy duty burlap or plastic, fill with dirt, cut slits, plant and hang from a tree. But put in an inch wide pvc pipe drilled with holes in the center for watering first. Lay a large bag of potting soil on the ground and cut slits in it and plant. Make an impatient tower. Take a large pvc pipe and drill inch wide holes in it. Take a smaller pipe and drill smaller hole. Put small pipe in center of large pipe and fill with dirt leaving the small pipe empty, that is your watering pipe, you fill it with water to make it drip out into the soil. The tower can be as big as your imagination and other plants can be added for extra interest. Best idea yet, send about a hundred to me, I still have several strawberry jars and shade planters to fill, lol.
...See More
selling hollyhock perennials
Q
Comments (6)
thank you cindyc, mine are still in 6 packs abought 3 to 4 inchs in hight, with 2 to 3 sets of leaves.. i just had a family friend give me abought 5000 nursery pots some new and some used. i spent all moring sunday picking up some of them " crap thats a lot of pots " but for free how do you pass it up..they range in size 1 qt. to 15 gal. for now i took just a bunch of each to see what i can use. i do like to 1 qt. pots i think they will work the best for my hollyhock. also i need to post some pics of the pots that i have..i dont know if there is a market for 12 to 15 gallon large nursery pots? there are the high-quality blow-molded, some new and some use. my wholesale "griffin catalog" says there aboght 8.00 to 12.00 each?? what would a home owner use a 12 to 15 gallon pot for?? (fruit tree ??)
...See More
peppermike
Original Author
16 years ago
My goal is to only use the 288 cell trays for germination. I have eight 48 cell trays for the actual growing flats that are under the lights.

Below is a crude drawing of what I'm referring to. I don't know if that dead space will hinder my ability to heat up the 288 cell tray. There are holes in the bottom of each cell so I don't want to just use the cell tray and have moisture drain out onto the heat mats.
fiedlermeister
16 years ago
I use a similar tray (200 cells) and yes there is a gap at the bottom. Hasn't seemed to be a problem for me

{{gwi:14764}}
toughboy
16 years ago
They make a 288 deep cell tray and it fits the 1020 flat much better. It also has much more soil volume and is easier to keep evenly moist . The 288 cell trays you have are nothing but trouble for me and I grow 10,000 or more plants every year . They dry out sometimes 3 times a day once the plants are growing . Many commercial greenhouses use them for seedlings but it is for economy and ease of transporting . I use them for the first 4 to 6 weeks with most seedlings and then move up to large cell trays or pots
peppermike
Original Author
16 years ago
Where can I get the deep ones? I'm probably stuck with the shallow ones this year. Since I plan on starting my seeds this weekend or next.

288 cell trays

Comments (6)

barrie2m_(6a, central PA)

cmpman1974

Related Discussions

peppermike
Original Author

fiedlermeister

toughboy

peppermike
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

288 cell trays

Comments (6)

barrie2m_(6a, central PA)

cmpman1974

Related Discussions

peppermikeOriginal Author

fiedlermeister

toughboy

peppermikeOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

peppermike
Original Author

peppermike
Original Author