Plastic seedling tray is a gardening tool and used to sow multiple seeds at once. After seed germination, seedlings grow in the plastic seedling trays until they are large enough for transplant. Using such a tray ensures better nutrient availability for each seed, and eliminates the need for multiple plantings. Plastic seedling trays also help keep the seeds contained. Plastic seedling trays can hold anywhere from 6 seeds to over seeds!
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What Types of Plastic Seedling Trays are There?
1.Plastic seedling trays with holes - seed trays with holes allow for adequate drainage but keep the soil moist enough for the seeds to germinate. Solid seed trays with drainage holes are best for growing multiple seeds in one place. The downside is that seedlings don't have individual cells, so their roots get tangled as they grow.
2. Plastic seedling trays without holes (leak-proof seed trays) - plastic seedling trays without drainage holes will not allow any drainage. Plastic seedling trays without holes are best for laying cells flat (also known as plugging). Because it has water, it can be used to collect excess water from watered seeds, or it can be used to water from below.
3. Mesh seedling trays - the mesh seedling trays allows water to drain easily. Mesh seed trays are best for holding multiple individual containers (pots). The downside is that the holes in the mesh seed pan are too large to hold the soil without falling or washing away when watered.
4.According to the material: pvc, ps, pet seedling tray.
How Many Seeds Should be in Plastic Seedling Trays?
The number of seeds in the tray depends on several factors, including:
1.seed tray size (how big is the seed tray - what size is it?)
2.seed spacing (how far apart do the seeds need to be to avoid overcrowding?)
3.cell size and number (how many cells are in the tray and how big are they?)
We provide you with a variety of plastic seedling trays wholesale: 10 cells, 21cells, 32cells, 72cells ,128cells plastic seedling trays and soon. Of course we can also custom plant seedling trays according to your needs.
4.seed germination rate (what percentage of the seeds you sown are you expecting to germinate and grow?) purpose (eg microgreens don't need much space between seeds, but tomato seeds do).
How Long can Plants Stay in the Plastic Seedling Trays?
Most seedlings can remain in the plastic seedling trays for at least 4 weeks. The larger the cell volume, the longer the plant will have to grow before the roots can bind. Plants grown in 200 cell trays usually need to be potted or transplanted outdoors once they have developed a full set of true leaves. Plants grown in 32-cell insert pots can be kept under protected conditions for 6-8 weeks.
Why Plastic Seedling Trays Wholesale from Marshine?
As one of the honest seed tray manufacturers, we insist on supply high cost-performance seed trays with consistent quality and professional serve. All of marshine plastics growing trays are designed to de-nest easily, saving you time and effort!
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us! We will provide you with the most professional answer in the shortest possible time!
Seed starting trays are one of the easiest ways to start vegetable, flower, and other plant seedlings indoors before the weather warms up. They come in a variety of sizes, with different features, and materials, but which ones are best?
Are some seed starting trays better then others and why? This is what I set out to find out this years growing season, in my quest to grow more of my own vegetables at home!
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In past years, I never really used seed starting trays and always went with a collection of mixed solo cups, old flower pots , yogurt containers, egg cartons, basically whatever I could find and put soil in! While all these containers do work, and can be a great way to garden on a budget, I never really found that much success with my mix and match approach.
The main problem with this approach is that it simply makes things harder to manage. The various containers all require different amounts of water to stay moist, they take up way more space, and you have to move each seedling individually should you want to move them out, under grow lights or into a new window sill.
In short, are seed starter trays necessary for the beginner gardener? No, not exactly, but they sure do make life a whole lot easier, and dramatically improve your chances of success!
Seed starter trays make life a whole lot easier by conveniently grouping seedlings into easy to manage trays.
It is much easier to provide adequate lighting when all the seedlings are grouped closely together instead of being spaced out in various size containers. The trays easily fit under grow lights, and can easily be moved around as a group.
As the seed tray cells are all a uniform size, it is much easier to water, and stay on top of the moistures requirements of the various seedlings. As the seed trays all contain proper drainage, they also help prevent over watering the seedlings.
It is much easier to plant similar types of plants in their own trays, for example herbs in one, lettuces in another, etc. This helps when needing to harden off or transplant certain seedlings before others.
Some seed trays even come with clear plastic covers or domes, which help regulate moisture, especially in the beginning phases of germination and growth.
Most often seed starting trays are made of rigid plastic and are reusable, or are made of super thin recyclable plastic that is meant to be thrown away after using. Some are a combo of plastic drip tray with bio-degradable cells or peat pellets that can later be planted right into the garden.
There are a wide range of designs to choose from, and it can be overwhelming, especially for new gardeners.
Which you'll end up choosing depends on several factors and we'll go over some of the most common designs in this guide to help you decide what will work best for you.
Most seed starter trays come in a 10" x 20" size, but differ in the amount of 'cells' or individual plants that can be planted in the tray.
The more cells a tray has, the shorter the time frame before the seedlings out grow the tray and need to be planted out or transplanted into larger containers.
Tray sizes range from 12 cell trays - 128 cell trays! In my experience, tray sizes between 24 cells and 48 cells work best and will safely keep your plants indoors for 4 to 8 weeks before needing to be transplanted.
Trays with a high number of cells (and thus a shorter growth time indoors) work especially well for lettuces such as spinach, kale, and head lettuces, which can be transplanted out into the garden sooner, either under hoop tunnels or in cold frames, then other plants.
Trays with a smaller number of cells (for example 24 - 36 cells per tray) are ideal for plants such as tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, herbs, and squashes.
Root vegetables, should when possible always be planted directly in the garden and not transplanted.
If you see roots coming out of the cells or peat pellet inserts, it's time to transplant the seedlings into a larger container or into the garden.
Which style of seed starter tray you choose is ultimately up to you.
Bio-degradable cell inserts are great, and make transplanting easy as the entire 'cell' is simply transplanted directly into a larger container or into the garden, and the tray material bio-degrades. They do need to be replaced yearly though and have a tendency to develop mold easier then plastic cell trays do.
Plastic seed starter trays are mostly re-usable, especially the more rigid plastic celled trays. The seedlings can be slightly harder to remove from the trays at transplanting time though, and you may need to use a butter knife, or spoon handle to help loosens the sides of the individual cells.
Never pull on the seedling stems to try and remove the cell from the tray as you will most probably damage the plant!
Additional accessories for your seed trays
Consider these accessories when starting and growing seedlings indoors. They make life a whole lot easier, and increase your chances of success! If you have to pick just one of them, I will always recommend grow lights be the first upgrade to your indoor seedlings!
LED Grow Lights- specially designed lights to provide the proper amount of lights seedlings require to prevent growth issues.
Heat Mats- help by keeping soil temperatures consistently warm, speeding up and aiding in germination rates.
Base Trays- provide drainage for trays with drainage holes, and allow you to water your seedlings from below. Tis can help prevent disease and pest problems!
Clear Dome Lid- Help keep heat and moisture in the seed tray. Especially important when waiting for seeds to germinate. A great and cheap investment when heat mats are not possible.
In our quest to discover which seed trays work best for our vegetable garden needs, we purchased and trialed three of the most commonly available styles of seed starting trays. Biodegradable cell inserts on a plastic base tray, peat pellet inserts with a base tray, and a rigid plastic celled tray with a base for watering.
Review:
A great seed starting tray for beginners, just add water and the peat pellets expand. No need for extra potting soil, or filling pots. Seeds sprout quickly and the clear heat dome helps retain moisture, reducing the need to water as often. Downside to this size tray is the short growing time before the seedlings need to be moved to larger pots or transplanted into the garden. Plan accordingly. Perfect for lettuces or plants that can be transplanted within a week or two of germination.
Pros:
Easy to plant peat pellets
Comes with clear lid to retain moisture
Comes with base tray for easy watering
No need to purchase potting soil
Cons:
Seedlings quickly outgrow the peat pellets
pellets need to be replaced after each use
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Review:
Large peat pots provide enough space for plants to grow for 6 to 8 weeks. Perfect for tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, or squash seedlings. Base tray allows for easy watering, though care must be taken not to overwater to prevent mold growth. We found cutting the strips apart before planting made transplanting easier, with less disturbance to the plants. A great, easy to use tray for most plants.
Pros:
Bio-degradable inserts make planting and transplanting easy
Larger cell size allows for seedlings to stay indoors longer nd develop healthy root systems
Comes with base tray for easy watering
Allows for longer growth time before transplanting
Cons:
Inserts need to be replaced yearly
Requires a solid watering tray (sold separately)
Requires potting soil to fill.
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Review:
The re-useable nature of this seed tray requires only adding new potting soil before each use. The deep 1.8 inch plugs allow for more root development despite the high cell count. We found the seedlings to easily grow for up to 4-6 weeks before requiring transplanting. Perfect for herbs, peppers, lettuces etc. Plugs are harder to remove at transplant time though and require loosening of the sides with a spoon or popsicle stick, increasing the chances of damaging roots.
Pros:
Entire plastic tray is reusable
Each cell has dedicated drainage hole
Deep 1.8" cells allow for more root development.
Cons:
requires base tray for drainage
seedlings are harder to remove then with bio-degradable inserts or pellets
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Over all we found that all three styles of seed starting trays had their own pros and cons making them great for different things. With all trays we tried, we found planting 2-3 seeds per cell and then trimming back to just one seedling after sprouting to give the best results.
The small Jiffy peat plugs where great for starting lettuces, herbs, and brassicas that can be transplanted out sooner even in cool weather. Tomatoes and cucumbers struggled in these peat plugs due to the limited growing space for the roots and required transplanting into larger pots fairly quickly.
The larger 32 peat pots where wonderful for plants that require more time to establish before being planted out. Tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs, and squashes all did well in this tray for up to 8 weeks. The only downside was the need to separate and space out some of the plants once they grew so large they where shading the other seedlings.
The re-useable 72 cell tray with 2 inch plugs worked surprisingly well, even for our larger plants, such as tomatoes and peppers. The deeper cell plugs allowed the plants to stay in the trays longer then expected. Removing the plugs without damaging the roots was a bit of a challenge though and took some getting the hang of.
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Question:
There are several types of plastic trays commonly used in plant propagation, including standard seed trays, cell packs, plug trays, and propagation trays.
There are several types of plastic trays commonly used in plant propagation, including seedling trays, plug trays, and cell trays. Seedling trays have multiple compartments for individual seeds or seedlings, while plug trays have larger compartments for transplanting young plants. Cell trays consist of individual cells or compartments, often with a hole at the bottom for drainage. These trays provide an organized and efficient way to start and grow plants from seeds or cuttings.
There are several different types of plastic trays commonly used in plant propagation, including seed trays, plug trays, and cell trays. Seed trays are shallow, flat trays with individual compartments or slots for planting seeds. Plug trays have larger, deeper compartments designed to hold plugs or small transplants. Cell trays are similar to plug trays but have smaller compartments, usually with a single cell for each plant. These trays are often made of durable plastic materials and are designed to provide optimal growing conditions for young plants during propagation.
Starting seeds for your garden is one of the most exciting things you can do. To see something so small grow into a beautiful and productive part of your garden is magical. But for a lot of new gardeners, it can seem overwhelming to start. How exactly do you do it? How do you know what materials to use? How do you know when your seedlings are ready to be planted outside?
Well, Gardenary is here with plenty of answers and information all about starting seeds! Check out these articles:
In this post, we're going to take a deeper dive into the different seed starting setups, in particular the trays and kits. There are so many options to pick from, so let’s take a look at what all you can use!
When starting seeds indoors, just remember that you are trying to mimic the outdoors as much as possible. You'll want the temperature to be warm and the area to have perhaps a little humidity, if possible. There also needs to be some air flow and light. While some people choose to use natural light, your seedlings are going to grow weak and leggy unless they're in a greenhouse with full overhead sunlight. Being placed on a windowsill is often not enough. Your best bet is to grab a grow light to use in whatever location your seeds will grow.
I have been starting seeds indoors for years now, so I will show you an example of how I started versus how I'm doing it now: In the beginning, I used styrofoam cups placed on a baking tray, with a clip-on grow light, in my office. Super simple and cheap, but effective! I didn’t need to start a ton of seeds because my growing space was little, so this worked well enough.
As my garden expanded, I invested in more materials in order to start more and more seeds. Now I have an extra bedroom closet I use, with a shelving unit, attached grow lights, and seed trays. This setup was more labor intensive and expensive to get going, but I can start a lot more seeds this way, and by now, I know the investment is worth it.
While my personal preference is a seed starting tray, there are other things you can use to get going. Let's look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of different materials.
Many gardeners trying to reuse what is already in their home will start seeds in eggshells, egg cartons, rolled-up newspaper pots, yogurt cups, toilet paper rolls, and more.
A lot of these materials are biodegradable, so the whole pot can be planted directly into the soil. That is definitely a benefit, as is the ability to repurpose something that would otherwise be tossed in the trash.
I have tried a few of these items and either found them to be too small or had them decay and break down before I could plant my seedlings outdoors.
These are pre-made pots, trays, and discs (also called pellets) sold widely online and in stores.
They're biodegradable, so again, you can plant the entire pot or disc.
I've had some get moldy and—like what happened when I tried to use toilet paper rolls—break down too quickly when exposed to water. I am not a fan. Plus, you have to pay for something that's not reusable.
You can poke holes in the bottom of just about any cup and use it to start your seeds. Be sure to place them on a surface or tray that can catch runoff when you water them (like my baking sheet in my original setup).
The benefit of these is that they are bigger and thus can grow your seeds all the way to transplantation without needing to pot them up (in other words, you don't have to move them to a larger pot before they go into the garden).
The negative is that they take up way more space than the cells of a typical seed starting tray.
Another option that is gaining popularity is to use soil blocking. While this option has technically been around for centuries, many home gardeners have never seen it used.
The beauty of this option is that you use the soil as both the growing medium and the container. The soil is packed enough to stay together and allow the seed to grow roots without running out of space.
You do need a few particular items to get started.
I know many gardeners who are turning to this method and quite enjoy it. You can see the items you need here and read up on how to's.
My top pick would have to be from Johnny’s Selected Seeds. Everyone knows their seed starting materials are top notch, and I love supporting a company that has such a great reputation and relationship with its employees. Their trays can be a bit on the pricier side, but you know that they will last for years. They have numerous options to choose from, so here are a few you might want to try:
With any of these trays, make sure you also order trays to catch or hold water underneath if you're growing indoors, as these trays all have holes that allow for drainage or uptake of water.
Plenty of other companies have similar tray setups that are good quality. You can get a kit from Gardeners' Supply that includes a 12- or 24-cell tray and a mat, and Burpee has a similar setup that also includes a dome lid, markers, and grow pellets. Growers Supply carries similar products, but you have to order a certain number of trays, not just one.
Amazon has a really neat kit that has a 60-cell tray with a mat and dome lid, as well as a grow light—a great setup for beginners! You can also find inexpensive trays and kits at places like Home Depot, as well as your local gardening supply stores.
You can water at the top or the bottom. Many people get fungal disease, which affects seedling growth, by watering on top of the soil if it is kept too moist. This has never happened to me, but you want to be careful how much water you use. You can avoid this issue by pouring water into the bottom catch tray; the seedlings will absorb it up through the holes in the tray.
When it comes time to remove your seedlings, a butter knife is your best friend. Just insert it gently along the side of the soil and pop your seedling out.
Always be sure to wash and sterilize your tray kits before use for new seeds. The moment after I transplant my seedlings, I wash my trays out and remove any dirt or debris and let them dry out before storage. When it comes time to start new seeds, I soak my trays in a diluted bleach solution to kill off any lingering bacteria that could harm my new seed babies. You can use a 9:1 ratio of water to bleach, or 9 cups of water for every 1 cup of bleach.
I personally do not use a heating mat and do just fine; however, I see plenty of gardeners and, for sure, farmers who use them and have excellent and speedier germination. I don’t feel this is necessary to get started if your space is warm, but it can definitely help.
There is also an option to purchase a dome. I have used domes at times and not used them at times, and in my opinion, they aren’t totally necessary if you have a warm space to start your seeds. If your space is a little cooler, like less than 72 degrees, then a dome can provide extra warmth and humidity for your seeds to germinate.
For more information, please visit cheap seed starting trays.