Green House Plan

Author: Nancy Maltais
Depending on how much you are going to grow in a greenhouse will determine this next procedure of seeding. Let's start with producing plants just for personal use.

Some seeds are so very tiny you might think they look like specks of pepper. These are the kind that make you want to invent a better way and many people have. The Precision English Seeder http://st2.yahoo.com/gardeners/-30-774.html is one of those inexpensive but wonderful alternatives to seeding with out pulling your hair out in frustration or trying to thin a mat of seedlings later . Where was this little beauty when we first started and I was hand seeding plugs trays. Yes I will define a plug tray. It is a plastic tray usually 10" x 20"x 1/2"deep or less, divided into little squares or circles that let each seed have its own little place. They can be divided into 32's up to over 512's.

You can view a professional seeder for a small greenhouse business at http://www.sezsdr.com/prod.html#E-Z%20Seeder. At this time, we use a similar vacuum seeder for our plug trays. You use different trays for the different size seeds. Little holes are drilled into the trays, the size being determined what seed you are using, and the holes line up over the divisions in the plug tray. Enough seed is poured onto the tray for two plug trays. I turn on the vacuum and shake the seed back and forth. The vacuum sucks the seeds onto the holes in the seeder plate. When each hole has a seed, I turn the unit over, place it over the filled plug tray and push a lever which breaks the vacuum. The seed then drops onto the soil and in position. I was able to seed 2 ....[MORE]