I have one of these and I would be glad to get several more. One thing I did was to fold out 1 of the water flaps on each side because I found it took up too much water until the plants got larger and then it was time to transplant anyway. One issue with these is that you will get a great root system tangled through the water pad so I think it is wise to move the plants out fairly early. Probably I did not find a good mix of soil. I found if I left the cover on that there would be moss or fungus grow fairly quickly especially on a high peat moss mix. Nearly pure vermiculite worked good with some sand but I think I would go to a good seedling mix with a little more perlite in it. I still like it as a growing method but it would be nice to have a larger unit at say 48 cells or so.

Here is a link that might be useful: Some Blue Honeysuckles in the grow trays

Thanks! I had been wondering about the roots getting into the mat. My initial thought was that I wouldn't want to grow tomatoes or anything with big roots in them, but then again, the cells aren't really big enough for tomatoes anyway. Perhaps once the seedlings get big enough that the roots are becoming a problem, I can remove the mat and water them as I usually do...

I never leave a cover on my seed trays. It's a guaranteed way to lose your seedlings to damping off :-). I usually cut small squares out of ziplock bags and use those to cover each cell/pot until the seeds germinate - then they're exposed to the air.

I usually go wit a lot of vermiculite in my seed mix, but with the mat, that might be too much. Maybe I'll go with perlite, as you say. Last year I switched to coir instead of peat, so hopefully I won't have problems with it getting too damp.

I'm looking forward to trying these. I would never have bought them because they're fairly expensive, but it'll be interesting to see how they do compared to my current way of doing things.

BP

You point out a number of things which are very true. One of the things I find these good for is special things where you want to just get them started. Once you know the water uptake of your soil mix, you don't need constant vigilance. I did not find too much trouble with damping off but if you use a peaty mix for sure it will get moss on the surface and I think this is a greater problem. Good luck.

Clayton