Readers of my journal will know that in 2019 I went on a quest to find heavy duty module trays to replace the flimsy modules that didn't last and needed replacing on a regular basis and found CMH Containerwise Material Handling, and trailed and blogged about their range of Long-Life Propagation Trays.
Soon after Charles Dowding teamed up with them to make smaller trays closely followed by Hew Richards, which I had suggested to CMH and was informed by them that the gearing up cost to produce them was too much, A year later Charles Dowding went into partnership with CMH to make the smaller module trays happen, Hew Richards then creating his smaller tray range with them.
As I have not been looking to increase my holding of heavy duty trays until last year when I purchased some of Charles Dowding and Hew Richards modules from CMH, I had not come across Bustaseeds, until their Tip Out Propagation Kits were offered as a prize on one of the gardening Facebook groups.
I contacted Niall Magee the director of Busterseeds and asked to trial their Propagation Kits and he kindly arranged for a twin pack of Tip Out Propagation Kits to be sent to me that arrived last week.
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Removing the Retail Packaging Sleeve that keeps the kit together until you want to get into it and play the clear Lid made of 800 micron formed APET is made to fit the profile of the green base tray which is made of heavy duty injected moulded polypropylene
The base tray includes a 20mm wide dedicated access point for bottom-watering between the cell insert and the side of the tray on the left on the photo above
I really like this as I bottom water my CMH modules, as it helps prevent saturation and surface mould, thus there are no holes in the base tray
The Kit Dimensions are L 350mm x W 250mm x H 50mm (cell depth)
Weight of Full Retail Kit 795g
I removed the 7 rows of 5 cell inserts and placed the lid next to the tray
I lifted the green base tray which feels very durable and well made, in the photo above you can see how the lid is profiled to fit into the bottom of the tray to make storage when no longer needed easy.
The dimensions of the Cell Insert are approximate and again the Inserts feel robust and durable and likely to last longer than the 5 year guarantee than the product comes with.
7 rows x 5 cells per strip giving 35 cells per tray. The white inserts will help reflect light and the 50mm deep cells are perfect for seedlings, but I can see how deeper root trainer versions would be beneficial.
I can see me starting off my sweetcorn in these this year, As I have used various modules and container over the years, but have not found an ideal product yet, but this could be the one.
In the photo above the Cells Inserts have no compost in and they pop off the rectangular upstands that hold them in place within the tray, that's why the lid is not sitting flush.
I've seen one YouTube Review where they guy complained that he had to cut his seed labels in order to get the propagator lid on but with the lid and the tray being 50mm deep a standard 100mm long 12mm wide plastic label is going to be fine and if needs be, it can be placed at an angle.
The ability to remove individual, 5-cell rows allows for easy monitoring of roots, is a real benefit. I have tried transparent module in the past, but this is ideal, I can also look out for any slugs or their eggs.
OK this is a stock photo and I don't expect the white cells to be that clean and gleaming when the soil blocks are decanted, but they are going to be easy to clean. It takes a long time and elbow grease with different size brushes to clean the CMH Modules, these are going to be a lot easier to clean.
Ease of removal will prevent root transplant shock.
Now that I have arthritis, following my cancer treatment, I can see that these kits are going to be easier for me to use due to its easy-to-handle design. .
- Your Using Plastic As I have covered before, it's better to invest in long life heavy duty plastic gardening equipment than the flimsy plastic modules that need replacing on a regular basis.
- Price: Several reviews mention that the initial cost is higher than traditional trays, though most feel the longevity justifies the investment.
- Gardening Naturally
- Mr. Fothergill's
- Quickcrop
- Amazon UK
- D.T. Brown
- ebay
- A google search also found :-
Offers currently directly from Bustaseed.co.uk
There are discounts applied for quantity and if you want more than 10 units contact Niall Magee of Bustaseed
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