Plug tray

A plug tray formed from a thermoformed, thin, polymeric sheet having a thickness within the range of about 0.025 to about 0.075 inches, and comprising:

• a surface member having a perimeter defined by a pair of opposing sides and a pair of opposing ends;
• a plurality of rows of inner cells arranged in adjacent rows in said surface member, each inner cell of said plurality of rows of inner cells dimensioned to receive a charge of growing material and at least one seed, wherein each inner cell has a center and a substantially square slope and four sides attached to a bottom member, wherein said bottom member has a hole formed therein, wherein said hole is formed in said bottom member such that each side of said four sides is separated from said hole by said bottom member;
• a plurality of apertures formed in said surface member to provide aeration for plant growth;
• and
• a pair of rows of outer cells arranged in rows in said surface member, each outer cell of said pair of rows of outer cells dimensioned to receive a charge of growing material and at least one seed, each row of said pair of rows of outer cells positioned adjacent an end of said pair of opposing ends of said surface member, each outer cell of said pair of rows of outer cells having a center and a top opening edge proximate to an end of said pair of opposing ends of said surface member, said top opening edge of each outer cell of said pair of rows of outer cells being substantially parallel to said end of said pair of opposing ends of said surface member;
• said four sides of each inner cell of said plurality of rows of inner cells defining a downwardly tapered configuration, and each outer cell of said pair of rows of outer cells having sides defining a downwardly tapered configuration;
• said surface member filter comprising a skirt depending from said pair of opposing sides and said pair of opposing ends, said skit having an outer edge and being flared outwardly at a pre-selected angle to said pair of opposing ends and to said pair of opposing sides to facilitate strength and rigidity of said plug tray, said flared skit and downwardly tapered configuration of said inner and outer cell sides cooperating to allow compact stacking of said plug tray in a vertical arrangement with others of said plug tray;
• wherein the center-to-center distance between adjacent inner cells, the center-to-center distance between adjacent outer cells, and the center-to-center distance between adjacent inner and outer cells are all substantially equal and comprise a first distance, and the distance between the center of any one of said outer cells of said plug tray and said outer edge of said flared skirt adjacent to such outer cell taken together with the distance between the center of an adjacent outer cell of another of said plug trays and the adjacent outer edge of the flared skirt on the other plug tray being substantially equal to said fist distance when the other plug tray is placed end to end with said plug tray and said flared skirt on said plug tray and the flared skirt on the other plug tray are contacting one another whereby said plug tray is useful in continuous automated planting and transplantation processes.

A plug tray formed from a thermoformed, thin, polymeric sheet having a thickness within the range of about 0.025 to about 0.075 inches, and comprising:

• a pair of opposing ends and opposing sides;
• a plurality of rows of inner cells, each inner cell of said plurality of rows of inner cells dimensioned to receive a charge of growing material and at least one seed, each inner cell having a center and four side top edges, wherein each side top edge of said four side top edges is substantially parallel to one of said opposing sides or said opposing ends;
• a pair of rows of outer cells, each row of said pair of rows of outer cells positioned adjacent an end of said pair of opposing ends, each outer cell of said pair of rows of outer cells dimensioned to receive a charge of growing material and at least one seed, each outer cell having a center and four side top edges, wherein each side top edge of said four side top edges is substantially parallel to one of said opposing sides or said opposing ends;
• and
• wherein each inner cell has a first dimension generally parallel to said opposing ends and a second dimension generally parallel to said opposing sides, wherein each outer cell has a first dimension generally parallel to said opposing ends and a second dimension generally parallel to said opposing sides, wherein said first dimension of each inner cell is greater said first dimension of each outer cell, and wherein said second dimension of each inner cell is greater than said second dimension of each outer cell;
• each of said inner cells having sides defining a downwardly tapering configuration, and each of said outer cells having sides defining a downwardly tapering configuration;
• a skirt depending from said pair of opposing sides of said plug tray and said pair of opposing ends of said plug tray, said slit having an outer edge and being flared outwardly at a preselected angle to said pair of opposing ends and to said pair of opposing sides to facilitate strength and rigidity of said plug tray, said flared skirt and downwardly tapered configuration of said inner and outer cell sides cooperating to allow compact stacking of said plug tray in a vertical arrangement with others of said plug tray;
• wherein the center-to-center distance between adjacent inner cells, the center-to-center distance between adjacent outer cells, and the center-to-center distance between adjacent inner and outer cells are all substantially equal and comprise a first distance, and the distance between the center of any one of said outer cells of said plug tray and said outer edge of said flared skirt adjacent to such outer cell taken together with the distance between the center of an adjacent outer cell of another of said plug frays and the adjacent outer edge of the flared skirt on the other plug tray being substantially equal to said first distance when he other plug tray is placed end to end with said plug tray and said flared skirt on said plug tray and the flared skirt on the other plug tray are contacting one another whereby said plug tray is useful in continuous automated planting and transplantation processes.

A method of forming a plug tray comprising the steps of:

• providing a thin, polymeric sheet having a thickness in the range of about 0.025 to about 0.075 inches;
• and
• thermoforming said thin, polymeric sheet into said plug tray, said plug tray including forming:
• a surface member having a perimeter defined by a pair of opposing sides and a pair of opposing ends and a major axis,
• a plurality of rows of inner cells in said surface member, each inner cell of said plurality of rows of inner cells being dimensioned to receive a charge of growing material and at least one seed,
• a pair of rows of outer cells in said surface member with each row of outer cells positioned adjacent an end of said pair of opposing ends of said surface member,
• a skirt depending from said perimeter of said surface member, said skirt being formed to angle outwardly from said perimeter to allow compact stacking of said plug tray in a vertical arrangement with others of said plug tray and to help strengthen and rigidify said plug tray;
• said plug tray filer being formed with the center-to-center distance between adjacent inner sells and between adjacent inner and outer cells substantially equal to the distance between the center of any of said outer cells and the outer edge of said angled skirt adjacent to such outer cell when taken together with a similar distance between the center of an outer cell on another of said plug trays and the outer edge of the angled skirt on the other plug tray adjacent to such other outer cell when the other plug tray is placed end to end with said plug tray and said angled skirt on said plug tray and the angled skirt on the other plug tray are contacting one another;
• each of said outer cells further being formed to have at least one of
• a) a shape of which is different from that of said inner cells, and
• b) a size which is different from that of said inner cells;
• such that said plug tray is useful in continuous automated planing and transplantation processes.

A system for growing plants comprising:

• at least a first plug tray and a second plug tray, each of said fist and second plug trays being formed from a thermoformed, thin, polymeric sheet having a thickness within the range of about 0.025 to about 0.075 inches, said first plug tray and said second plug tray each having a pair of opposing ends and a pair of opposing sides, wherein an end of said pair of opposing ends of said first plug tray is positioned in contact with an end of said pair of opposing ends of said second plug tray, said first plug tray and said second plug tray each including:
• a surface member;
• a plurality of rows of inner cells formed in said surface member, each inner cell of said plurality of rows of inner cells dimensioned to receive a charge of growing material and at least one seed, each inner cell of said plurality of rows of inner cells having a center, wherein the center-to-center distance between adjacent inner cells is substantially equal;
• a plurality of apertures formed in said surface member,
• a pair of rows of outer cells formed in said surface member, each row of said pair of rows of outer cells positioned adjacent an end of said pair of opposing ends, each outer cell of said pair of rows of outer cells dimensioned to receive a charge of growing material and at least one seed,
• each inner cell and each outer cell having sides defining a downwardly tapered configuration;
• said surface member further comprising a skirt depending from said pair of opposing sides and said pair of opposing ends, said skirt having an outer edge and being flared outwardly at a pre-selected angle to said pair of opposing ends and to said pair of opposing sides to facilitate strength and rigidity of said plug tray, said flared skirt and downwardly tapered configuration of said inner and outer cell sides cooperating to allow compact stacking of said plug tray in a vertical arrangement with others of said plug tray;
• wherein each outer cell of said pair of rows of outer cells is formed such that the center-to-center distance between an outer cell of said first plug tray and an adjacent outer cell of said second plug tray measured across said flared skirts on said fist and second plug trays is substantially equal to said center-to-center distance between adjacent inner cells when said first plug tray and said second plug tray are positioned with said flared skirts on said ends in contact.