I was going through some of my gardening stuff that I had in a box and I found this set of Triple Greenhouses. It has 3 of the following: Clear domes, 72 handy pop out cells, and a waterproof tray. It seem like this might just be the thing for me. I could put my leaves in each little cell, place the tray underneath, which would make watering much easier, and add the greenhouse dome if needed. What do you you all think of this? I think it might make things much simpler and easier for me. I would like to hear your advice concerning this. Thank you so much.
JesseK
Just a thought that might help
JesseK, I've seen others on various AV forums use those with success. I think the key is the soil blend you'll use and keeping tabs on weather or not the dome keeps it too humid. If you find it's too humid, you can use Critters method of poking extra holes with a shis-ke-bob (sp?) skewer.
I have a cheap soldering iron that does the same thing. But if you don't have one, don't buy one. I'm sure you or a neighbor has a skewer or nail or something.
I started with the dome and found it too humid. That was before I learned about poking holes for extra ventilation. So I removed it and then ended up changing my whole set up to perlite for now. I'll switch to more soil in my blend when the weather warms up a bit.
If I can find the photos online of other folks set ups, I'll pass them along.
Jesse, that will work great!
Keep the soil mix light (at least half perlite), and I would suggest poking holes every couple of inches with something like a hot kebab skewer or nail (heated on the stove works fine, but if you use a nail, be sure to pick it up with pliers). It's just much easier to use a hot metal tip for holes that won't crack the plastic. The ventillation holes really do help keep condensation off the leaves, which can lead to rot.
Those little cells would also be a good size for rooting small suckers... you may not want to fill all 72 of them with leaves right away... it's tempting to put down dozens and dozens of leaves, and I tend to forget that this will mean finding space for several babies from each leaf down the line, LOL.
I use seed trays but the solid bottoms for my leaves..
I then transplant them to solo cups once they are too large for the trays :) I just keep a little bit of water in the bottom of each tray :)
So this works for me :)