[Market-farming] tray cleaning/ germinating seed
robert schuler
sunnfarm at bellatlantic.net
Sat Jan 17 10:14:23 EST 2004
I find it easier to throw the trays away after each use, it all depends
on how much time you have to spend on cleaning trays. I have tried
laying trays on the greenhouse bench in the evening wetting them down
then applying a disinfectant called Triathlon through my fertilizer
injector at 100 ppm, they stay wet all night this seems to kill off any
disease.
Pro grow electric heating mats work the best for germinating seed, one
unit will cost you around $180 but will last forever. One mat holds 5
germination trays enough to germinate 5000 seeds without crowding seed.
I put slower germ seed like pepper and eggplant on the mat then put a
second layer of germinating trays of fast germinating seeds like
tomatoes on top of them. I have even put three layers of germinating
trays stacked on one mat covering the whole thing with a sheet of poly.
..Bob.
Sunny Meadow Farm
Bridgeton, NJ.
Pat Rupiper wrote:
> For the trays with the white gunk, try white vinegar. It works great.
> Put in spray bottle, spray undersides etc, let sit, then hose off. It
> should kill the spiders, loosen the gunk, and leave things a lot
> cleaner. Just soak in fresh water after processing. If doing inside, I
> use a bathtub. Harder on the back, easier to dunk! Try to get the
> worst dirt off first as that clogs the drains. It is time consuming. I
> read somewhere that if you take the net bag material that comes around
> onions, etc and scrunch it up, it makes a great scrubby. Cheap and
> fits everywhere.For germination I use heat mats. They are expensive
> but I have been using for several years now. After the initial pop up
> faze, I have a heat tape sunk in sand in the greenhouse. We made a 3ft
> x 6ft x 6in box, wired the tape to hardware cloth, then dumped on 4
> inches of sandbox sand. My husband made a lid that is covered in
> plastic that adds another few inches in height. This is great as it
> keeps the tropical warm but allows me to move them out of the house
> sooner. That way the lid can be lowered at night and they can slowly
> harden. Last year we had a hard frost the 3rd week in May. I was glad
> the plants were still in the bed. They stay in trays with drainage
> holes. My greenhouse is unheated and this is a great compromise.Pat
>
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