Sprouting tray ideas- where do you get your trays?

[delmar]

I would ideally like to find a bunch of restaurant trays, but I haven't found anything like that cheap or free. So for now I have been making mini trays out of the bottom of milk jugs. They stack really nicely so a can drill holes in a dozen or more at a time. Plus each one has a ridge that runs from corner to corner, so I can create an air space by turning the tray on top 90 degrees.I would like bigger trays, I think, but free is good and most of the people I work with are SAD so I can get all the milk jugs I want for free.I would ideally like to find a bunch of restaurant trays, but I haven't found anything like that cheap or free. So for now I have been making mini trays out of the bottom of milk jugs. They stack really nicely so a can drill holes in a dozen or more at a time. Plus each one has a ridge that runs from corner to corner, so I can create an air space by turning the tray on top 90 degrees.I would like bigger trays, I think, but free is good and most of the people I work with are SAD so I can get all the milk jugs I want for free.

[MysticTree]

What is a restaurant tray? I used to use plastic steamer trays that I got via freecycle. They stack which is useful. I have now got a bunch of black seed trays. They cost about 50p each. They are not very robust but should last a few years.

[michigan roman]

build furring strip frames that you staple nylon mesh cloth to

then build a rack you slide frames into

i also use big cheap dollar store plastic colanders , i'll post a picture of mine later

for sprouting i like air circulation to prevent mold so dont use solid containers

[michigan roman]

included is old pic of my garden soil , notice all the straw heaped up on both sides of bed

[delmar]

What is a restaurant tray?

Just a hard plastic tray that they through the SAD on over here.

[MysticTree]

Ah I see. I think we'd just call it a tray. I would have thought they'd be too shallow. I bought more seed trays today and a water spray bottle. Planted them up and by using half of them as covers I have already run out again.

[delmar]

build furring strip frames that you staple nylon mesh cloth to

then build a rack you slide frames into

I had given some thought to this idea. I will probably give something like that a shot

i also use big cheap dollar store plastic colanders , i'll post a picture of mine later

for sprouting i like air circulation to prevent mold so dont use solid containers

I guess I thought of colander sprouting as an alternative to jar sprouting. You put soil in them? Actually as nicely as my jug trays stack it doesn't take long to put a great many holes in the stack of them. so I could with a little more effort, pretty much turn them into colanders. I do like the fact that they are more square than round and I like that they are free instead of $1 a piece.

[MysticTree]

Pea shoots I am growing directly in soil in the veg patch. Very cheap and much easier than trays of any sort.

[delmar]

Pea shoots I am growing directly in soil in the veg patch. Very cheap and much easier than trays of any sort.

I tried growing sunflower greens in the soil outside. I even put a fence around them but I still had critters get in and eat them all. I might give it a try with peas but I have some very persistent, well fed wildlife on my property.

[michigan roman]

i took old 2 x 8 boards and built a frame on edge , sides come up 8"

about 2' x 3' rectangle

then i used roofing nails to nail hardware cloth over it

put the sun seeds in ground and place the frame over them and theyve 8" to grow before hitting hardware cloth

[delmar]

That should work, though I do hope this thread can stay more on finding or making trays than sprouting and growing.

[delmar]

Here is something I tried that has promise. I bought some plastic canvas for needle point, folded the corners and fastened them with zip ties.

[MysticTree]

For some reason I can't enlarge that photo but I get the idea. What I don't get is why, if you have to buy any materials, you don't just buy seed trays. I have some bigger trays that I can't even remember where I got them though it was probably off freecycle. I love freecycle. These bigger trays need son holes punching through the bottom though.

[delmar]

The trays I have seen are a couple dollars a piece, but I could be shopping in the wrong place.

[MysticTree]

Yes, I think you are shopping in the wrong place unless the trays are 6-8x as big as the ones I get. Where are you looking? John Kohler is always going on about home depot but even our dollar store equivilents have something usually.