Picked up a small shipment of new plug sheets and webbed trays at the post office. I really stretch ’em out, have some going for years—they’re reusable, but not incredibly tough, especially when you take them into the field for transplanting. Handle with care and all that, and replace as needed! These are 72-cell sheets, my basic standby. Bigger is generally better here (my other standby is 38-cells), but there’s only so much room under the lights: if you keep the timing tight, don’t leave things in there too long, they’re fine for just about any small seed. Waste no space!
I recognize the plugsheet from William Dam. I bought some a while ago, and I really do not like them. I think they are a little too shallow, and square plugs have a better substrate volume per surface area ratio. Just MHO.
This year, I bought a box of TLC Ultra 72 cells trays from ITML. These are the best trays I ever owned. Highly recommended.
I keep adding to the original 72s and 38s I bought when I first started farming a few years ago…standardization keeps things simple. :) My production scale hasn’t changed much, so I’m just replenishing. If I were to start from scratch, I’d give my choice of plug gear a new round of thought.
It’s funny, 10 farmers, growers, gardeners, whatever, 10 different opinions, never fails, and all of em mostly work….
I’ve used (squared) rigid cell flats, not inserts, that are self-supporting, don’t need trays. I have 128s and 200s. I found that, fully loaded, if you pick them up by the ends so they sag in the middle, they edges can snap and crack, just one tiny split on each side, and the next time they sag, the whole flat can just fold up and after that, no more rigidity, you need to put em in a tray or handle really carefully. Maybe that’s the brand/models I have.
The bit of extra volume of squared cells versus round cells is a nice idea, but I don’t think that makes a noticeable difference in the end. At times, I’ve planted in all sorts of odd, motley mixes of plug sheets and pots, and never noticed a difference from one plant to the next when it came to maturity and harvest. I’d bet if you planted square and round plugs side by side, one wouldn’t be bigger, stronger, faster than the other at all. I could be wrong! :)
Which supplier did you use? Can you pass on the web site?
Yep, William Dam Seeds.
If this is your first time buying plug sheets, you should read the comment and reply above – there are choices! Then again, as long as it’s in the right general size area for what you’re starting, I think you’ll be just fine, whatever you pick. :)
Mike got his from (I suppose) William Dam: http://www.damseeds.ca
I got mine from Distribution Teris in Québec: http://www.teris.co (their website seems to be down most of the time).