For instance, although you might grow Swiss chard and kale using the same size cell/container, chard typically takes 1.5x longer than kale to grow so growing them in separate trays/sections makes sense. The size of these trays isn’t ideal for most gardeners (128 plants is a lot to manage in one tray!) Different crop types sometimes need to be handled in different ways and trays with fewer cells allow for this. left to right: open flat, 20-row, 128, 72, 50 – all trays are 11″x21″ Tray Type (These trays can be found places such as Johnny’s Selected Seeds or Greenhouse Megastore if you decide to go that route.) The trays below are 11″x21″ and the numbers correspond to the number of cells per tray.Ĭell flats typically used in larger scale growing. I’ll explain cell size from the farmer’s perspective and you can adapt it to your own system with the containers you have access to. I’m accustomed to growing this way and have found that the logic makes sense for gardeners and homesteaders as well since most of us don’t have a ton of space to work with at home.

Paper pots– Speaking of nifty, check out this little do-hickey! I can’t personally vouch for how well it works but I love the idea of it and it gets pretty decent reviews.įarmers often use what are called plug trays/cells for planting because it’s an efficient way to pack a lot of plants into a small amount of space.They can also help prevent transplant shock when you plant them in the garden. Biodegradable Fiber pots – These nifty little things are great for airflow which is important for root growth, similar to egg cartons.Yogurt containers – Little individual yogurt containers can be great for plants – just poke a few pea-sized holes in the bottom and pot your tomatoes up into them once they’re too big for the cells you started them in.

Vegetable seedlings