Both photos show the same tray from two angles, and the underside view is the one that matters. Each position is an open round cell carried on a braced foot, with gaps all round the side. Nothing in this tray is designed to hold a reservoir. It is a grid that keeps plants spaced and upright while the water and nutrient solution move past them, and it is the piece most home-built hydroponic benches are missing.

It is moulded in black PP, one of the planting tools we supply for propagation and hydroponic houses.

On a flood-and-drain bench the tray sits in the channel and the solution is pumped up around the roots, then drained back to the tank. The open cells let the flood reach every root zone at once and let the drain run off cleanly, so no solution is left standing around the stems. That last point is what separates a working bench from a wet one: standing water at the crown is the usual cause of damping off in a hydroponic system.

The same tray is used over a deep-water tank, where the base of the cell sits just above the surface and the roots hang through into the solution below. Neither use needs the tray to be watertight, which is why the open moulding is the right shape for the job.

In a soil bed the roots are hidden and the soil buffers mistakes. In a hydroponic bench they are not, and the two things that go wrong fastest are oxygen starvation and root rot. Spacing the plants in individual open cells keeps air moving through the root zone between floods, and the black moulding keeps light off the roots so algae cannot establish on the wet surfaces.

Because the tray is a separate part, it can be lifted out of the channel with the plants in it for inspection, cleaning or a change of crop, without draining and dismantling the bench.

Tell us the bed or channel size and the crop you intend to run, and the tray can be matched to the layout. Cell spacing decides how many plants a bench carries, and matching that to the flood volume of the tank is what keeps the system in balance. General guidance on soilless culture is published by FAO, and commercial practice is reported monthly by Greenhouse Grower.

1. Material : PP material.
2. Color : Black.
3. Usage Time : Can be used for 3 years under normal usage.
4. Scientific design : First quality material make it good for permeability and ventilation.

We are the manufacturer specialize in greenhouse and planting tools with above 35 years. We supply over 1,200 different kinds of planting tools. Our planting tools are widely use by farm and agricultural sciences academy and institute at home and abroad. We exported our products more than 120 different countries all over the world.

Q: Does this tray hold water?
A: No. It is an open grid. Water and nutrient solution pass through and drain away, which is the point. A tray that held water would leave the stems sitting in it.

Q: Can it be used with an ebb and flow bench?
A: Yes, that is a common use. The tray sits in the channel so the flood reaches every cell and drains back cleanly to the tank without solution pooling around the crowns.

Q: What about deep water culture?
A: It works there too. Sit the tray so the base of the cells is just clear of the surface and the roots hang through into the solution below.

Q: Why is it moulded in black?
A: To keep light off the root zone. Roots in a wet, lit environment are where algae starts, and algae competes with the crop for oxygen and nutrients.

Q: Can I match it to my existing bench?
A: Yes. Send the bed or channel size and the crop you plan to grow, and the cell spacing and tray dimensions can be matched to your layout before the order is placed.