High dome lids

Where is a good sourse for high dome lids for seed starting trays? I would love to be able to dome some of my cuttings and african violet babies longer and higher ect....

Thanks!

Heather

I don't know, but I've made a few contraptions from clear plastic bags and coat-hanger-wire arches that do the trick

A little ventillation is good, I think, whether we're talking about little holes in a "real" plastic dome or some unsealed edges on clear plastic sheeting.

Whenever we have a birthday cake at the office, I take home the plastic dome that covered it, and it works pretty well for cuttings. Everyone thinks I'm weird, tho'. :-)

I agree with critterologist, whatever is used needs some ventilation.

Shannon

Hey, I've got some African violet babies sitting on a domed cake plate on my counter -- works well, and they look pretty cute!

Heather,

I started looking in the local supermarket at the veggie trays that hold the veggies in! The narrow ones fit 3 - four inch pots in the window sill as a tray for watering; or as a dome. They also have larger ones they put salads and fruits in.

Just a thought.....

~* Robin

Edted to say the larger salad ones are called clamshells.

This message was edited May 23, 2005 12:44 AM

http://www.mortonproducts.com/page.cfm/1502 and
http://growersupply.com/humiditydome.html are two suppliers that sell them by the dome. Morton's is where I got mine and they have been very good. Remember you do not need as many domes as trays because you take them off as soon as you get decent leaf growth. Make sure that the dome and the tray mfger are the same, otw there can be a gap between the tray and the lid. I use the solid trays so you can water from below. The trays with holes are OK when you move the plants outside but before you move them to larger containers. Then you can water overhead easier. With a lot of this stuff, shipping is a big part of the cost, so you want to search for a place nearby. I standardized on the 10x20 tray so everything is inter-changeable. The sheet pots work but most places sell them only in 100 sheet lots. They are also quite flimsy and you must have the carry trays to make them work well or the trays if you are propagating with them. I did not fool around with any non-commercial alternatives because I had a very large number of seeds to do and not a lot of time. I wanted to do it efficiently with as little labor on my part as possible. There are lots of much cheaper alternatives than the ones I chose, but they do work and are easy. Having everything standardized is very nice.

I only water from below. I do it as soon as the tray starts to feel light when you lift it. Once you take the domes off you have to water more frequently. The domes come off a couple of days after you get germination. The trays come out of the propagator when there is good leaf growth and I put them outside in the shade. They go into the full sun, though it is not very hot here, after about a week and I overhead water them from then on.

I switched to Coir from peat and from sowing trays to using filter paper. Both moves resulted in better germination and are much easier as you do not have to worry about being able to rewet trays that have gotten too dry, coir retains moisture better but doesn't get soggy. The filter papers work better because you can see the seeds that are germinating and you only plant the trays with germinated seed, so you are not waiting around for trays to start sprouting. It makes for more efficient use of your propagator.

Do you live close to a party supply store - cake covers?
Or close enough to Wally world?
A bakery?

I put some cut down bamboo scewers and tall plant tags (from the Dollar store) in the pots' corners and put them in clear bread bags; the kind you get unsliced bread in at the bakery. You can also put them into clear freezer gallon size ziplock baggies like that too.

My little corkscew vine grew up in a clear freezer gallon size ziplock baggie with the bamboo scewers in the pot. It is now a sturdy seedling 6 inches tall still with only 2 leaves on it.

~* Robin

BassetMom just posted this idea in another thread.... use clear plastic storage boxes for rooting cuttings! You might even be able to find one with a lid that would work as a bottom watering tray. Once she mentioned it, I also seemed to remember a picture that somebody (perhaps Keyring) posted in the AV forum, with a bunch of AV & other babies in a clear plastic sweater box.

I have bought cake domes and bottoms for about 12 cents each or so; they do work well to root plants and to hold six 8oz styrafoam cups of seedlings.
Also, the store has little bundt cake holders (with bottoms.) I bought some of these to start seeds in. I just plant the seeds in medium and snap the attached lid (bottom) shut. These work well for individual African Violet leaves as well.