Propagation: What's your method? Veggie seeds from germ to ground......, 2 by RickCorey_WA

RickCorey_WA wrote:
K-cups are very small - like one ounce or so, and shallow 91.5 inches).

That small a container will force you to "pot up" very soon after germination ... like around the time the first pair of true leaves emerge. That's possible, but you will have to do a lot of potting up in a short time period to avoid seedlings from getting rootbound.

Like art33, I love the insert trays. They are lightweight and can be torn along perforations so that when you plant out into the garen, you can hold a little "6-pack" in one hand and pop the root balls out with the other.

Or better yet, the sturdier "plug trays" or "proopagation trays" They let me move 50, 72, 98 or 128 little seedlings around in one tray, and nothing tips over!. The 98 and 128-cell trays have cells that are no wider than the K-Cups, but deeper. These sturdy plug trays last many seasons, but can be unweildy. i carefully cut my 10"x20" plug trays into 4-5 segments that are easier to carry, but it still takes some coordination to pop root balls out of a segment with 20-32 cells! (I'm not coordinated.)

For potting up, Dixie cups are almost as wide as a 3" pot, but perhaps deeper than necessary. They love to tip over on me! I would rather use a 50-cell propagation tray than Dixe cups.

you can buy 10-packs of those trays online, or find some nursery of Steuber's Distrbuting (nursery wholesalers) and pick up just 1-2 of each size and decide what you like.

http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/category/flats-trays-inse...
http://www.growerssolution.com/page/GS/CTGY/inserts
http://www.growerssolution.com/PROD/1020-greenhouse-tray-no-...
http://www.growerssolution.com/PROD/20-row-seedling-flat/20r...
http://www.growerssolution.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Search=plug ...

You need something that holds water, like a "1020 tray", and set inserts or plug trays on top of that.

I like to put an absorbent pad between the 1020 tray and the cells or pots. Cotton flannel, denim, terrycloth toweling, 2 layers of Tee shirt - anything absorbant and with some "loft" or 'fluffiness" for good contact with the soilless mix..

Then I can bottom-water easily by just watering the mat. It carries water equally to every pot, and keeps their bottoms equally moist until the whole tray drinks it dry around the same time. You tell that time by watching the mat - the soil in the bottom of each cell is about as moist or dry as the pad is. I never have to flood the tray to be sure that every cell got some water. P.S. the hole in the bottom of each pot must TOUCH the pad.

Sturdy, expensive "Perma-Nest Plant Trays" that hold water:
http://www.growerssolution.com/PROD/perma-nest-plant-trays/P...

Or you can line cardboard trays with heavy plastic bags cut in half, and set pots or cups or trays onto the plastic. But you can't set the cardboard on wet ground or it will dissolve.