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For those who start a large number of seedlings...

wordwiz
12 years ago

... in a limited space.

In previous years I've also transplanted baby seedlings into 18-36 cell nursery trays and they always worked great. But I was limited into how many total plants I could grow at once. This year, I needed to start hundreds of tomatoes, plus peppers, broccoli, basil, etc., and was searching for different media. Over the winter, I tried BioDome Inserts, Rapid Rooter Plugs, Oasis Wedges and Oasis Horticubes.

The latter is so far better - the others aren't even in the same country let alone ball park.

Compact size - I can raise 162 seedlings large enough to transplant into the garden in a 1020 flat.

Watering is never a problem - no more worries about too wet or too dry. I let them sit in a trough of water. About once a week (now a couple of times a week as the plants are much larger, the sun shines more and it is much warmer in the GH), I flood the trough. Roots grow out the sides and bottom of the cubes but are not hurt when transplanting.

No need to pot-up - saving a lot of time as well as expense. I did transplant a few hundred to sell; it was a snap. Add a thin layer of potting mix in the bottom of the trays, insert a plant, cover with potting mix.

Cost efficient - True, $6.50 for a 162-cell tray is not cheap, but there is no need to buy potting mix, nursery pots (though I do use the 1020s to hold them) and vastly reduced lighting costs. I can raise 648 plants under two shop lights; over a six-week grow period the electricity savings alone more than covers half the cost of the cubes.

I'm hoping a couple of places will want to get rid of their stock this summer and offer a better deal than $6.50, especially if I buy 25 of them.

Mike

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