Planting Trays

So we reviewed warming mats and lights for seedlings, how about we dive into seed cells or pots for the seeds.  I have tried various methods to starting seeds inside and found the seed trays with a humidity dome to work the best.  You can find the trays really anywhere.  I purchased mine from The Greenhouse Megastore, Seed Trays.  There are many to choose from, I would make sure they have no holes in them (you can buy ones with holes). 



Then I purchased the humidity domes.  These help keep moisture and warmth in for the seedlings.  Especially when the weather is cold the dome and the heating pads help jump start your seeds.



This picture shows the humidity dome on the tray.  You can buy them both at the same time.

Here is also a new site that I have come across that has seed trays, you may want to take a look, Unbeatablesale.com.

So we have the seed trays and dome, now we need to decide what to use for the seed cells or flats.  I use a 6 cell flat, I like this size as they are not overly big but not really small to get the seedlings out.  I have tried smaller cells but is is difficulty to try to remove your new plant.  With these I can use a hand weeder to get the seedling out with damaging it. 

The flats come in as 8 connected- 6 cell units, which is a total of 48 cells, but they are perforated so you can easily snap them apart.  You will want to have them smaller to work with, it is way to difficult to re pot seedlings with such a large tray, hence the six pack is easier to work with.

So this sounds like allot to purchase to start out growing seeds indoors, but there are some pros to the situation.
1.  If you check in with nursery owners or places like Home Depot, sometimes you can get some of their potting equipment- especially if they are going to throw them away, ChaChing for you.
2.  You can use these over and over, providing they don't split, which I think of the 100 or so that I have 2 have fallen apart.
3. Once you get the seedlings to a state to transplant- you can start another batch and keep going.

I would shop around and see what you can find from local nurseries, neighbors and friends.  If you buy online Amazon, Greenhouse Megastore have about the best prices, but if I have the time to scout around sometimes I can find good prices with other places.  I am a true believer in free shipping so I always look for that.

If you are in the Salt Lake Valley, Western Garden is a good place that you can go in and see allot of the items, to get a feel for what you want, many times they will also have deals going on.  Since I live about an hour from Salt Lake, I rely on on-line shopping.  Western Garden Locations