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seeds Sprouting seeds in aluminum trays

W

wordwiz

Since I need to sow 100 or more seeds of four different types and let them grow to close to four inches tall before transplanting, anyone see any danger of using those aluminum foil trays. The ones I want to use are more than large enough to hold that many seeds and are about three inches tall, so I could fill them with potting soil, giving the roots plenty of depth to grow.

Haven't had a chance to see how ferts may interact with aluminum but I would think not much. Yet, rather that find out I was wrong...

Thoughts???

Mike
 
Pam,

Not at all. Been there and done that for years! (OK, from the time I was 5 to 30 years old!) Not sure if you have seen tobacco beds in SC or not, but they are 100 feet long by 10 feet wide and a good bed could easily produce 10,000 seedlings to transplant.

Mike
 
No, they are tomatoes. And we did the same with them, only sowed them in one end of a bed.

Honestly, I'm more concerned about any kind of interaction among the soil, ferts and plants than the roots. If the stems are healthy, it's a snap to pull the plants up.

Mike
 
How big is the aluminum tray? I doubt there would be any chemical interaction - after all, people cook food in that stuff - with spices!
 
wordwiz said:
No, they are tomatoes. And we did the same with them, only sowed them in one end of a bed.

Honestly, I'm more concerned about any kind of interaction among the soil, ferts and plants than the roots. If the stems are healthy, it's a snap to pull the plants up.
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Um, Mike? "Snap" might not be the best word to use there.

Anyway, I don't see anything wrong with using an aluminum pan unless you're fertilizing with something that makes the substrate very acid or base.
 
Pam,

Using the Tomato-tone you suggested! I'm guessing the trays are about 16-18" by 8-10".

Sunday is S-day, and that's not Stupid Bowl Day. That's when I want to sow bunches of seeds (while hearing the Squealers are losing by 128 points!).

Mike
 
Is it time for that silly handegg game already? Well, at least all that nonsense will be over for another year.

I don't start my plants on Tomato-tone until they're outside. If they need a little boost inside, I give them some fish emulsion or liquid kelp. I suppose it would work since it's a large pan and not individual cells, though.
 
Ya, I can't see why you'd use aluminum trays. I think the whole idea behind using cells, or plugs is so you don't have the hastle of digging up roots and causing trasplant shock/damage
But I don't see any reactive problems with the trays unless like Pam said the water/nutrients are too base or acid
 
bigt said:
How big is the aluminum tray? I doubt there would be any chemical interaction - after all, people cook food in that stuff - with spices!
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Well I wouldn't cook tomatoes or anything acidic(or base) in aluminum trays. The reaction will effect the taste and possibly your health too.
 
Potawie,

Every experiment I tried this summer/fall produced leggy tomato plants when they were first starting. I'm trying to compensate for that by transplanting them after they get about 3-4 sets of leaves. I had very good luck doing that this summer/fall and didn't see any significant transplant shock.

Mike
 
If you are getting leggy plants move your plants or light source closer...
I had that probelm with my tomatoes I started indoors last year they grew fast and were leggy and wouldnt stand without being staked with a straw until I moved the light closer and the stalks became much sturdier and were able to stand on their own. Worked for me
 
Lucky,

Tried that, to where the plants were getting 10,000 lumens but still got legs for the first couple of weeks after sprouting. After that, not a problem. Transplanting them is one option. Another is sprouting them in cells that are 3.5" deep but only filling the cell up half way. After the plants gets over its initial legginess, fill the cell to the top. If I was trying to raise a few dozen plants, I would go this route. But with well over 1200 seedlings, it would mean using all my grow area from now until April. Instead, I can grow all the seedlings in one chamber for the first month to six weeks, then transplant them. Plus, I won't have to reseed 10-15 percent of the cells because of non-germination or growth. Another advantage is that only strong seedlings will get transplanted.

I thought about going with the 288 plug trays or even the 72-cell ones but it seems much easier and effective to grow all the seeds in one bed than transplant the best ones.

Mike
 
I would like to throw it out there that, you might be able to get empty egg cartons (the recycled paper kind) and plant in those as a form of recycling. I can't see why you'd want to use an aluminun tray. You could just as easily line a baking dish or cardboard beer box with plastic wrap and fill with starter and go from there.

It just seems like more money than you need to spend. I got an el cheapo peat pot and starter pellets for each along with a free fert sample for $6 at Lowes. At the very least, faster to degrade once you're done.
 
fineexampl said:
I would like to throw it out there that, you might be able to get empty egg cartons (the recycled paper kind) and plant in those as a form of recycling.
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I don't think I could find 100 egg cartons!

I can't see why you'd want to use an aluminun tray. You could just as easily line a baking dish or cardboard beer box with plastic wrap and fill with starter and go from there.
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I cut holes in the bottom and sides, set it in a nursery tray and put that in a tub of water.

It just seems like more money than you need to spend. I got an el cheapo peat pot and starter pellets for each along with a free fert sample for $6 at Lowes. At the very least, faster to degrade once you're done.
Click to expand...

I have three trays already, I can get more for about $2.50 each at Family Dollar.

Mike
 
POTAWIE said:
Well I wouldn't cook tomatoes or anything acidic(or base) in aluminum trays. The reaction will effect the taste and possibly your health too.
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Yah, I think you're right about the acid and aluminum. I know you're not supposed to make lasagna in it.
 
Ha! Poor Mike! You ask about aluminum and no one can get past that fact that you're group planting. That'll teach ya to drag your tales of leggy tomatoes out in this group!
 
Pam,

(I wish I could call you Pamela without you worrying if your mom is addressing you - it's such a beautiful name!)

I found a couple of plastic trays among my cache, the kind that those 72 cell, store-bought things sell. It's easy to plant 100 or more seeds in them, should be able to easily get 150 if I have that many seeds. I sowed 109 Siletz seeds tonight, but am only counting 100 as a few of them looked more like husks than seed. They are an early tom, 55-75 days depending on the site. But if I am counting correctly, they should have ripe toms by about Flag Day, Independence Day at the latest.

People around here are idiots - if these plants have blooms on them, they will pay way more. "Wow - only $5 for that plant - I'll take four of them." Even if a similar plant sitting next door lacking blooms is only $3.00.

Mike
 
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