FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I need something to start seeds and get seedlings to a selling size. I know I can use seedling trays to start the seed and plugs for getting them larger. But I have a few questions:
1. how do you set up an area for this? Do you have a shelf, put everything under a bench or what? 2. What lights are best? Yescoms?
3. What seedling trays and plugs should I get?
Thanks in advance!

Sundews69 wrote:1. how do you set up an area for this? Do you have a shelf, put everything under a bench or what?

$70 36x18 Target wire rack, or 48x18 for $80 if you have room. Fits 12 or 16 1020 trays, respectively. Also a smart plug (timer), extension cord, a couple of power strips, and a healthy amount of zip ties.

Sundews69 wrote:2. What lights are best? Yescoms?

Mine is 3 shelves of 2 yescoms each, and one shelf of 2 spare 2' led tubes I had laying around. Probably $200 all together.

Sundews69 wrote:3. What seedling trays and plugs should I get?

1020 trays (w/o holes ofc, they make them both ways). They have humidity domes and plenty of different sizes of seedling flats or plug/prop trays made for them, and also are made to fit 2.5 and 3.5" nursery pots exactly. I usually use 32-50 plug trays for seedlings (ideally deep plugs like these, but you can surprisingly get by with the shorter ones for most drosera at least) and 2.5" (drosera, small pings), 3.5" (large pings, community pots), and 3.5" deep (VFT, pygmy, tuberous) pots for adult specimen plants. All cheap and the whole system is standardized (mostly anyway, flats fit but prop trays aren't always perfect and might need some trimming).

I look into those. Thanks!
My mom won't let me get a large rack like that because she only wants something aesthetically pleasing in my room. So I'll need to get something else.

"aesthetically pleasing"....beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But, I get where you're coming from.

If you can get financing... Do you have a cabinet shop close by? Sturdy adjustable racks. Built in (safe) electric receptacles (sure beats running extension cords everywhere and looks "nice"). Design for hanging *energy efficient* LED panel lighting. Multi-level ventilation fans with individual switches. Solid drip pan for the lowest shelf (doubles for a plant shelf). Glass front doors...side glass, too, would be nice. Rollers/casters so it can be moved for vacuuming and general house keeping chores. Large enough so you don't "have to do it again". Wood stained to match the room furniture.

Just a thought.

NightRaider wrote: ↑Thu Dec 15, 2022 4:47 am 1020 trays (w/o holes ofc, they make them both ways). They have humidity domes and plenty of different sizes of seedling flats or plug/prop trays made for them, and also are made to fit 2.5 and 3.5" nursery pots exactly. I usually use 32-50 plug trays for seedlings (ideally deep plugs like these, but you can surprisingly get by with the shorter ones for most drosera at least) and 2.5" (drosera, small pings), 3.5" (large pings, community pots), and 3.5" deep (VFT, pygmy, tuberous) pots for adult specimen plants. All cheap and the whole system is standardized (mostly anyway, flats fit but prop trays aren't always perfect and might need some trimming).

Those trays are very expensive to ship. Are there any other deep ones like that that you use? I can't find any.I would prefer something deep, but these could work nice to I think. I like that it has clear plastic and it comes with a dome too

Sundews69 wrote:Those trays are very expensive to ship. Are there any other deep ones like that that you use? I can't find any.I would prefer something deep, but these could work nice to I think. I like that it has clear plastic and it comes with a dome too

Yeah I don't see anything wrong with those, they're just around 5-6" shorter than a 1020 and thus only have cells a little over 2" deep and 1.5" across so it'd be kinda cramped if you were growing rosettes. That said, it should be fine for small scale budget stuff - and there's nothing wrong with that. I think most people use GreenhouseMegastore for their stuff so I decided to check there and see what prices were like now. In the future if you had/needed more room, you might could look at something like this - 10x 1020 trays, 10x 3" deep flats, and 5 domes to rotate out for a little over $40 right now:If I didn't live across town from the first place I linked, this is probably what I'd be doing. That said, if you only ever plan to use as much room as those trays you linked they'd be totally fine as long as you didn't expect to be growing plants out to full adult size in them.

NightRaider wrote: ↑Sat Dec 17, 2022 8:14 am

Sundews69 wrote:Those trays are very expensive to ship. Are there any other deep ones like that that you use? I can't find any.I would prefer something deep, but these could work nice to I think. I like that it has clear plastic and it comes with a dome too

Yeah I don't see anything wrong with those, they're just around 5-6" shorter than a 1020 and thus only have cells a little over 2" deep and 1.5" across so it'd be kinda cramped if you were growing rosettes. That said, it should be fine for small scale budget stuff - and there's nothing wrong with that. I think most people use GreenhouseMegastore for their stuff so I decided to check there and see what prices were like now. In the future if you had/needed more room, you might could look at something like this - 10x 1020 trays, 10x 3" deep flats, and 5 domes to rotate out for a little over $40 right now:Capture.PNGIf I didn't live across town from the first place I linked, this is probably what I'd be doing. That said, if you only ever plan to use as much room as those trays you linked they'd be totally fine as long as you didn't expect to be growing plants out to full adult size in them.

Which flats and domes on their website are you talking about?

Sundews69 wrote: ↑Sun Dec 18, 2022 12:21 amWhich flats and domes on their website are you talking about?

In the picture

NightRaider wrote: ↑Sun Dec 18, 2022 1:34 am

Sundews69 wrote: ↑Sun Dec 18, 2022 12:21 amWhich flats and domes on their website are you talking about?

In the picture

I forgot to look at that again lol. Thanks

This is the same thing just cheaper, right? https://www.greenhousemegastore.com/col ... riple-pack

Sundews69 wrote:This is the same thing just cheaper, right? https://www.greenhousemegastore.com/col ... riple-pack

Outright cheaper yeah but per unit it's significantly more - again depends on the scale of what you have planned - and it looks to just be the standard depth flats rather than the deeps. Besides that though it looks to be the same, but you'd probably come out better with the Amazon thing you linked over that once you account for shipping imo.

Better to get the amazon thing over the items in the picture too or just the one that came with everything?

Just over combo pack if you're looking at per-unit costs. You most likely don't actually need domes for every tray since you only really need them for the first couple months after sowing seeds, so you can get twice as many trays, that are each ~1/3 longer with larger, deeper cells for ~60% more.
Alternatively, breaking it down in terms of roughly 10-tray units and including shipping costs:
Amazon: $52/10 trays but with shorter, smaller cells and each tray is ~25% smaller than a standard 1020
GM combo pack: $72/9 full-size trays with shorter cells
GM individuals: $42/10 full-size trays with deep cells, but only 5 domes to rotate as needed.

Again, all that said this only matters if you have space for or plan to eventually use that many trays since GM only sells the individual trays/flats in 10-packs minimum. If you only need or have room for a few smaller trays then there's nothing especially wrong with the Amazon thing you linked other than just having shorter, smaller cells, but I have a couple trays of drosera in similar cells that have done fine - they just eventually grow roots out the bottom and can overlap into neighboring cells if they're big enough around. Here's a picture from a few months ago of 1-year-old unfed Tamlins and Emerald's Envy growing in 1.9"x1.9"x2.375" cells vs the Amazon tray's 1.5"x 1.5"x 2" if it helps: Of course they've grown a decent bit since then, but this should give you an idea anyway. For comparison, the deep inserts from GM measure (2" x 2.25" x 3.25", 36-cell) or (1.56" x 2.36" x 3.13", 48-cell).
Another consideration, these plants don't usually need a lot of horizontal space for single plants (e.g. propping cuttings or pullings) since they normally just grow a few roots basically straight down BUT larger cells can allow more plants per cell (e.g. sowing seeds - multiple seeds needed per cell so you don't end up with a lot of empty cells).