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The horticultural industry has a huge single use plastic problem. It is estimated that “the combined weight of plastic plant pots & containers, growing media bags and garden chemical bottles is around 30,000 tonnes a year.” (Horticultural Trades Association – access December 2024).
Plants are shipped in flimsy plastic pots and trays from nurseries, to where they are sold, and finally into your home. Often these pots are not recyclable: black plastic send the recycling centre sorters whacky! Whilst acknowledging the perks that inexpensive and lightweight pots bring, and the fact that lots of responsible consumers will reuse these as much as possible (which isn’t very long as they are susceptible to cracking), these go to landfill very quickly.
The same goes for lots of the module trays, seed starting trays and plant pots sold for us. There is a push to move towards reusable and recyclable options (the abundance of Stanley cups you see on TikTok shows this!) and luckily for you, I have found, and used what I think is the most robust, reusable and lasting propagation tray there is!
No gatekeeping here, here are the trays I use!
The trays I use are made by a British company based in Yorkshire. They offer an exceptional life span offering a better alternative the standard trays you find. Plus you can buy a variety of sizes to suit your needs. I’ve found them great for everything I grow!
They are still plastic though, so if you are trying to avoid completely then there are other alternatives. You can consider wool or card pots, but these come with recurring costs so it’s a bit of a balance. However, this is a plastic product I am confident I’ll use for a long time. The trays are rigid and easy to carry, designed to assist strong root production, and have large drainage holes making potting on and planting out a breeze.
I use the tray size 350mm x 215mm (varying depths). this means they fit standard gravel trays and my seed tray rack. My favourite sizes are:
40 cell shallow tray
The tray I use for most things! With a cell size of 70cm³ it allows plants to get to a decent size before planting out, or potting on. 40 plants in a standard size tray means I can make the most of my limited greenhouse space too.
77 cell shallow tray
These are great for sowing lots of tiny seeds like snapdragons and violas. With modules sized 35cm³, it’s a great way to use a smaller amount of compost. They are actually bigger cells than the available 60 cell trays but you can fit almost 30% more plants in the same space.
15 cell shallow tray
Big cells (a beasty 310cm³) ideal for plants that need potting on and growing to a larger size before planting out. It leaves a good space for foliage and can hold plants for a long time. An alternative to 9cm pots but lets you squeeze a few extra into your space.
28 cell deep tray
Perfect for sweet peas! At 12cm deep there is loads of space for roots to spread out and grow deeply before planting out, whilst also fitting a good number of plants per m².
40 cell deep tray
I use these for sunflowers (and beans and peas if you’re a veg grower too). 40 plants in a seed tray is great, and the deep roots are ideal for fast growers. i tend to keep plants for 4 weeks so they get a great start but don’t reach the stage where they are competing heavily for light with their neighbours.
I am a big fan of these trays. They are super strong and robust, easy to carry, easy to push plants out of for planting out, and have excellent drainage. I am continuing to expand my collection as my weaker trays come to the end of their life.
You can buy a wider variety of sizes direct from the suppliers website as well.
