Have you longed to jettison those flimsy plastic plug flats but hesitated to invest all the extra soil, time and energy into soil blocks? Game-changing injection-molded Winstrip Air Pruning Trays to the rescue from Neversink Farm Tools! These trays offer the best of both worlds, and then some! When Beth Haines of Fisher Farm in Winterport, ME, astutely recommended we carry these, we dawdled on pursuing what we assumed was just another plastic tray. See sidebar below to learn how we became converts.
New Mini Wini trays for smaller plantings: Each Mini Wini Small-cell Tray Each tray has 16 cells, with cell size of 1" wide x 1.9" deep. You can fit 8 of these into one 1020 tray. Extremely durable recycled polypropylene is food grade, BPA-free, UV-resistant, and recyclable wherever #5 plastics are accepted (though we haven’t heard of anyone who has reached the end of the tray’s useful life). Made in the USA.
Situated in the Catskill Mountains, Neversink Farm grows healthy crops of not only organic vegetables but also well-equipped new farmers. Neversink has developed and adopted systems and tools that have helped them become one of the most profitable small-scale farms in the U.S., and they now teach acclaimed courses to other market gardeners. Neversink’s own tool line brings together a select group of implements and supplies that have become mainstays for many a successful veggie farm. Fedco is proud to partner with Neversink in their mission to offer “the best tools for an affordable price for the farming community.”
How do we love Winstrip Trays? Let us count the ways:
Extremely durable! One grower reported using the same Winstrip trays for multiple times a season for more than 20 years. Sturdy trays don’t require bottom trays for support.
Air pruning that rivals soil blocks! Generous airflow slots on the sides and bottom of each cell prevent root spiraling and reduce incidence of seedling disease and transplant shock.
Quick and easy to fill! Simply pour dry potting mix into the tray, scrape off excess, and tap the bottom on the workbench to eliminate air pockets. So much simpler than soil-blocking! No need to push soil down with your fingers, as with plug flats.
Saves potting soil and water! Winstrip trays use far less soil than soil blocks. Less soil means less watering; they absorb water efficiently to begin with, and stay moist longer.
Improves transplanting! You can carry each trayful of seedlings one- handed out to the field. Faster to pop out seedlings than with plug flats, and no need to tease apart roots like with soil blocks.