The advantages and disadvantages of using seedling trays

Commercial growers usually use nursery trays to produce seedlings for planting. Compared with direct planting, when planting in the field, it is easy to remove seedlings from the tray for transplantation. And reduce the time to check the quality of seedlings, in addition, seedlings from the seedling tray can be used for manual or automatic sowing machine

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Advantages and disadvantages of using seedling trays

Compared with direct seeding, the use of transplanting has many advantages, although some vegetables are more suitable for transplanting than others. For example, beans, sweet corn, and peas are those that are not usually grown as transplants.

Advantage

The growing season is shorter and the land use efficiency is higher.

Improve crop uniformity.

Predict the harvest date more accurately.

Greatly improved the survival rate of nursery

Extend the growing season.

Use expensive hybrid seeds more efficiently.

Can be used in conjunction with the machine, which greatly provides production efficiency

Disadvantages

A batch of seedling trays needs to be purchased, and the cost investment increases.

Seedlings are more expensive than seedbeds because of cell transplantation, because first of all, you need to invest in a batch of nursery trays. Plants grown using cells have many advantages compared to seed bed or seed tray plants. Their widespread use proves this fact.

Some flower and vegetable growers have established their own nursery production units. The grower must pay close attention to the planting and design of the seedling growing area as if it were a commercial nursery.

With so many kinds of propagation trays it gets hard to understand what will work best for you. We are not only talking about module trays or seed trays but also soil block makers and nursery pots. I made a blog post about my journey to finding the Containerwise trays. If you want to learn more about why the Containerwise Trays are my personal favorite trays you can read that blog post. My Search For The Best Propagation Tray

What Containerwise Tray should you get?

Let&#;s chat about why we use Module trays and which tray you need for what plant. Currently on offer are 7 different varieties of the trays. They all have their own usage and pros and cons.

My personal favorite is the 40 cell shallow module tray. It&#;s perfect for starting out almost all seeds besides the deep-rooted vegetables like peas and artichokes. I use the 40L for starting beetroot, onions, radishes, cabbages, tomatoes, and brassicas.

But some plant need more time in the tray or just have such a quickly growing root system they rather have a deep tray. Let&#;s list all the trays on offer with their pros, cons, and specs.

Contact us to discuss your requirements of Leak-Proof Seedling Trays. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.

The 15 Cell shallow tray

Cell Size
69mm x 69mm x 90mm

Best Application
Tomatoes, Eggplant, Artichoke, Peppers

Plants per m²
204

Drainage Hole
24mm

PROS
Big cell size
Room for plant foliage
Can hold plants for a long time

CONS
Few plants per m²
Need much compost

The 28 Cell shallow tray

Cell Size
49mm x 49mm x 65mm

Best Application
Brassicas, Corn, Zucchini, Pumpkins, Winter Squash, Cucumbers

Plants per m²
372

Drainage Hole
22mm

PROS
Big cell size
Can hold plants for a long time
Good drainage

CONS
Few plants per m²

The 40 Cell shallow tray

Cell Size
42mm x 42mm x 55mm

Best Application
Beetroot, Onion, Radish

Plants per m²
531

Drainage Hole
20mm

PROS
Average cell size
Many plants per m²
Good drainage

CONS
Not for deep rooting plants

The 77 Cell shallow tray

Cell Size
30mm x 30mm x 50mm

Best Application
Spinach, Lettuce, Herbs

Plants per m²


Drainage Hole
18mm

PROS
Many plants per m²
Good drainage
Great for small sprouting plants

CONS
Not for deep rooting plants
Small cell size

The 60 Cell Charles Dowding shallow tray

Cell Size
29.5mm x 29.5mm x 44mm

Best Application
Spinach, Lettuce, Herbs

Plants per m²
815

Drainage Hole
14mm

PROS
Many plants per m²
Good drainage

CONS
Not for deep rooting plants
Small cell size

The 28 Cell Deep tray

Cell Size
49mm x 49mm x 120mm

Best Application
Peas, zucchini, Pumpkins and trees like Oaks and walnuts.

Plants per m²
372

Drainage Hole
22mm

PROS
Many plants per m²
Space for root growth
Extreem deep

CONS
Needs loads loads loads of compost

The 40 Cell Deep tray

Cell Size
42mm x 42mm x 85mm

Best Application
Peas, Artichoke, Eggplants, Pumpkins, Beans, cabbages

Plants per m²
531

Drainage Hole
20mm

PROS
Many plants per m²
Space for root growth
Extra deep

CONS
Needs quite some compost

Conclusion

Overall I&#;m a big fan of the Containerwise trays because of their strong hold, ease of use and good water drainage.

My personal favourite is the 40 cell shallow trays because of its for me perfect size to start out my vegetables and the ease of pushing out the cell because of the big drainage holes.

If you want to learn more, please visit our website Seedling Trays Price.