A nursery tray is a polythene made device used for the raising of seedlings. Nursery trays allow farmers to nurse their seedlings in an effective and efficient manner.
Nursery trays are particularly useful for the raising of tomato seedlings. Tomato seedlings are very fragile, if you raise your tomato seedlings on a soil based bed, you are likely to damage the roots when transplanting.
Uprooting tomato seedlings from soil based beds can also cause injuries for the seedlings; diseases like bacterial wilt can infect the tomato seedlings through these injuries.
Nursery trays are manufactured in such a way that they have holes or cells in plastic tray like structure. There are different types of nursery trays in Nigeria. The commonest types of nursery trays in Nigeria are the 104 nursery trays, 128 nursery trays and 200 nursery trays.
Types of Nursery Tray for Tomato in Nigeria
The following are the types of nursery trays in Nigeria:
104 Nursery Tray
The 104 seedling tray has 104 holes. This means that 104 seedlings can be planted in this type of nursery tray.
The 104 nursery tray is very common in Nigeria
128 Nursery Tray
This is a type of nursery tray with 128 cells. The 128 cells nursery tray allows for the planting of 128 seedlings.
This type of nursery tray is also very common in Nigeria
200 Nursery Tray
This is a type of nursery tray with 200 cells or holes. It can be used for the raising of tomato seedlings.
It is also common in Nigeria.
There are other types of nursery trays in Nigeria. I have only highlighted the commonest types.
Things to Look Out for Before Buying Nursery Tray for Tomato in Nigeria
The following are the factors you should look out for before buying a nursery tray in Nigeria:
Price
We all like cheap products but in the case of agro products, if you chase cheap prices, you may buy low quality and sub-standard products that will not last long.
What is the use of buying cheap nursery trays that will last just a few weeks?
The quality of the nursery tray
No matter how cheap a nursery tray is, do not buy poor quality nursery trays. Some poor quality nursery trays can even negatively impact the growth of your tomato seedlings.
Unscrupulous tray dealers use the trick of offering ridiculously low prices to deceive unsuspecting buyers to buy poor quality nursery trays. Buy your trays from credible dealers like Veggie Concept.
You are strongly advised to choose only high quality nursery trays. The advantages surpass that of cheap and low quality trays.
Type of nursery trays
You need to know the types of nursery trays you want to buy. Do you want the 104 nursery tray or the 128 nursery tray or the 200 nursery tray?
All the above types of nursery trays can be used for tomato seedlings.
The thickness of the nursery tray
Micron is used to measure the thickness of nursery trays. When you see a higher micron number, it means that the nursery tray is thick.
Farmers generally prefer thicker nursery trays, though this does not mean that thick trays are better.
The UV characteristic of the nursery tray
You should check if the nursery trays have ultra violet rays resistance characteristics. Nursery trays that are UV treated last longer than those that are not UV treated.
Beware of dealers who sell nursery trays that are not UV treated as UV treated trays.
How to raise tomato seedlings in Nursery trays
The following are the steps you need to take in order to raise tomato seedlings in nursery trays:
Buy your nursery trays from a credible vendor like Veggie Concept. Do not purchase your nursery trays because the price of the nursery trays appears too low. You may unknowingly bad poor and low quality nursery trays.
Use a suitable growing medium. The use of coco peat is strongly advised.
If coco peat is picked as the growing medium, the coco peat has to be broken up and put into the cells or holes of the nursery trays.
Saturate the coco peat filed nursery trays with water so that the excess salt in the coco peat can be removed.
For unbuffered coco peat, calcium magnesium nitrate fertilizer can be used to buffer the coco peat and remove excess potassium in the growing medium.
One tomato seed should be put in every hoe of the nursery tray. The growing medium should be used to slightly cover the tomato seeds.
The coco peat nursery trays should be wet at all times.
Apply foliar fertilizers to the tomato seedlings in the nursery trays.
Uproot the tomato seedlings from the nursery trays and transplant to the field.
Do you wish to buy nursery trays in Nigeria? If yes, why not contact us on 08025141924 or send an email to sales@veggieconcept.ng.