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Protrays...The Growers Advantage

What is a protray?
Protrays are traditionally used in the horticultural industry for seedlings or cuttings, and are referred to as "starts", "liners", "plugs", etc. They come in several different formats; 98's and 58's are what we stock. This means there are 98 or 58 cells in each 10" x 20" tray.

58 cell and 98 cell trays
What are the advantages?
There seems to be several advantages. First of all, unlike a "compot" where all plants share the same pot, in a protray each orchid is grown in an individual cell, which means its roots form a "ball", and this reduces root damage when they are removed for transplanting.

Another advantage is relative uniformity of plant height. Plants are sorted before they are planted into the protrays, and since they are not competing so much for space -- as would be the case in compots -- they reach approximately the same size. You may notice that with compots some plants are large, some are small, and some are so tiny it would be difficult to transplant them all into the same size pot.

Size and Value
Although we use compots as a comparison, the seedlings in our protrays are equivalent to a thumb pot (for 98-cell tray) or near a full grown 2" pot (58-cell tray). So if you calculate the price per plant, the savings is so significant it may be hard to believe. Protrays are efficient to produce since seedlings are handled as batches. This accounts for lower production costs, which is how we are able to offer Hawaiian-grown orchids at such a great value.

58 cell tray
58-cell tray

98 cell tray
98-cell tray


For Commerical Growers
Protrays are indeed suitable for many commercial growers, from the small hobbyist greenhouse to large cut flower operations. You will notice that we stock a wide variety of orchids ranging from large quantities of UH cut flower varieties to limited quantities of select breeding.

98-cell tray

All In All
If you followed the offerings of our nursery over the years you can see how our inventory has evolved to provide an even greater diversity with each new season. And since we develop and hybridize much of our own, the best is yet to come.

View 58-cell tray orchid seedling list

View 98-cell tray orchid seedling list

 

 

 

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Hawaiian Floral Nursery   41-928 Kakaina Street   Waimanalo,  Hawaii 96795 USA
Phone: (808) 259-8311   Fax: (808) 259-9701  email: service@hfloral.com