Modifying flats
Jane McGary (Sat, 09 Oct 2010 09:11:30 PDT)

Sometimes one may want to line a nursery flat to prevent loss of soil
from, e.g., band pots, or to prevent water from draining too fast. In
the past I used sheets of microfoam to do this, but it's flat and
blocks drainage from the bottom of pots (though not from the side
holes). This morning I wanted some shallow containers to hold
cleaning supplies in a cabinet under the sink, and my eye fell on
some of the heavy-duty 18-inch-wide flats commonly used in this area,
made by the Anderson company. When I brought them into the kitchen, I
noticed some rolls of shelf liner I'd just bought -- Con-tact Premium
Shelf Liner, a heavy plastic, flexible, non-adhesive product with a
ridged surface. It's exactly the same width as the interior of the
flats, and the ridges are high enough to allow air and water movement
under pots, but it would retain some humidity, especially if fitted
so it goes a little up the long sides of the flats. Having settled
the silver polish and Windex in their modified flats, which can
easily be slid out for access to the pipes and so on, I'm now going
to fix some up in case I need to bring seedling flats into the garage
during winter, and for similar uses. I expect this product would last
for years, though perhaps not if exposed to strong sunlight.

Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA