Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Spring is on it's way here in the USA. One of our main issues for the the coming month is creating a seed germination seedling starter for the plants that'll be transplanted into our three gardens. I'm looking for something like a floating raft system with Dixie cups I can pull in a few months. We're so looking forward to not needing to constantly water seed trays in every window in the house.

Brian, I'm trying direct seeding in the Grow grips. If it works, it will be a lot easier then what I have done in the past. I use the 10/20 trays and then use either the 72 or 48 cell trays and direct seed in each cell. I get almost 100% germination with a quality mix, but then it's tedious to have to wash all the roots before transplanting into AP system. The grow grips are supposed to eliminate that. I tried a previous time with foam and had the grow grips shoved into holes I drilled in the foam. I use a Rootmagic/ starter mix combo and kept the trays full. The problem was the foam grow grips don't wick water very well, and most of the seeds never germinated. Not bad seeds, as the same seeds did fine in either the GB's or starter mix. The ones I did today are pushed down into the 72 cell tray, which fits perfectly for the 1" size, and the water level is now at or above the seed. I'll know by the end of the week. Toms and basil usually germinate in 3-4 days max.

Coachers,

How did this experiment work out?

thanks

One of your grow beds could be used by changing the standpipe height to flood the bottom of the trays enough to water the plants. You can use whatever trays you like if they are perforated and just resting on the media in the bed. You may need to separate the seed starting from the AP system if the water is too cold - depends on what you're starting.