We are adding a seedling production table to our heat sink greenhouse. We will be able to start all our seedlings out in the greenhouse where they will eventually be transplanted. The table was designed to fit our seedling trays, our grow lights and the seedling heat mats we use for our seedling production. As the weather turns cold we will add the heat mat and grow lights.
Here is the beginning of our seedling table. It is 12 feet long and 23 and a half inches wide. It is built out of treated wood.
The surface of the seedling table is made from treated deck board with a 3/16th of an inch spacing between them. This will allow water to drain from the seedling trays. It is wider than the trays to allow room to enclose the trays, heat mats and grow lights inside of more greenhouse plastic during the winter and early spring months.
The back of the seedling table is screwed directly to the end wall for the greenhouse. The front of the table is supported by three 4x4'sOur seedling trays, part of of the Mittleider gardening method, are 18 inches by 18 inches. Here is what the seedling trays will look like on the table.
Currently we start our seedlings during cold weather in the basement. It works for us, but is a bit of a pain when we have to carry everything down there to start the seedlings, and then to bring them up again once they're grown and ready to be transplanted. Moving the seedling production out to this table will allow us to do all the work right where we have all the nutrients and where they will eventually end up growing.
If you are interested in how we grow seedlings in sawdust and sand using the Mittleider Method, check out this video.
