I love that you gave your opinion in the beginning and then went into detail. I liked the video based on that alone.... the rest was good too.

What a high level of integrity to just give the answer straight off the bat instead of wasting our time with filler. I am liking, commenting and watching to the end just for that.

Wow. YES! A YTer who answers the question in the first couple minutes instead of making everyone wait until the end. Thank you, sir, for the detailed, concise, well done video. :) Can't wait to watch more! Sus'd. :)

As someone who is NOT a market or large-scale grower, but just has backyard gardening and very much enjoys your videos and still learns from them...I would say the winstrips are just easier, more organized, & cleaner for us to use and the transplants are comparable to soil blocks.

FINALLY, an honest farmer! We tend to not say that a hangover was the reason something failed to get in the ground.... 👍

I absolutely give the nod to soil blocks and don’t have many complaints about them. I find the bottom watering of them to be very quick and easy. Thank you for your thoughts in this video and also thank you for mentioning in a prior video that when growing salanova lettuce, people have put their soil blocks in the refrigerator overnight to increase germination. I went from a very poor germination rate for this lettuce to about 85% after performing the aforementioned action - thank you!

We are a homestead. My wife went through cheap cell trays. They just didn't last. So last year, we bought 10 72 winstrips. Love them. But she also purchased super durable 6 cells too. So we have combined 20 trays worth, and we use all of them, AND soil block too. Thanks for the honest review.

I love it and appreciate it so much when people get strait to the point in their videos. Thank you. Great video. I think if I look to upgrade I'll just go strait to soil blocks.

I moved from soil blocks to Winstrips 20 years ago ( they were much cheaper then) and have probably used each 50 times and only broken 1 out of 250 ( drove over it). That’s 8c/tray use at what I paid and 24c/tray use at what you pay now, so far. I bet they will last another 20 if stored out of the light. It used to be you had to order a whole container from Korea and once the GH operation in NC had what they needed they stopped getting and selling them. I agree Soil blocks produce superior transplants but the Winstrips have most of the benefits, especially rapid transplant ‘take’, with a lot less fuss and resources,

My wife tried some and she loves them. We also moved from cell trays so they work so much better for us. My wife puts all the soil into a 56qt tote and loads the trays, brushes the excess of the top, through the holes in between the cells, and doesn't loose any of the soil as it ends up back in the tote. Problem that he mentions is solved.

Love that you are honest to soil block users within the first 2 minutes. Still watched the video.

I like this kind of no-nonsense straight to the point video. Thanks a lot.

Some of the most direct commentary about the topic presented...thank you.

Great to get an honest answer from a trusted name.

I tried them out for the first time this year with peas; was pretty impressed. Nice root development and easy to pull out plugs. Ive already invested in Proptek 13x26 trays though (also excellent trays, super durable, will last decades and plugs pop out easily if roots well developed)

As a home gardener, I’ve enjoyed using the six cell version of these from Epic Gardening. The air pruning is so nice. I have never been able to get soil blocks to hold together.

I am in Ontario, -20 this morning. February 2022 Very sunny today, very grateful. Thanks for the review

Love the humor at the end... great content as always thank you

I have been doing soil blocks for this whole season, and I was really optimistic, but it has felt like a lot of work. I think the learning curve of getting your mix right is a little disheartening. I just picked up 10X60 cell trays from charles dowding since he has a distributor in the US now. As a small gardener, with about 375 sqft of growing space in my back yard, I struggle making soil blocks. I needed to sow more seeds then I did this year, and I felt like it was a lot of work to do the soil blocks. This coming from more of a hobby than a market garden that actually generates revenue. Plus a 10X20 of soil blocks is like 3 times as heavy as a 60 cell from Charles, which isn't a big deal for me, but for my wife and son, who are helping me, it is a struggle. I love the concept and the performance of soil blocks, but they are a lot of work and messy to set up. lol I have a love hate relationship.

Thank you for this video. Im Just starting out for market garden and looking at getting away from Cheap plastic trays. Also excited to get your book in the mail one of these days!!!

Thanks for the info, what I like about you and Conor is that you present info and it's left up to us on how we use that info. Me, I grow for my family. So cell trays work for as I don't have the quantity that you and Conor have So thanks again

Happy Sunday!

Not a farmer; Just a backyard grower/future homesteader here. When I first took on gardening, I used soil blocks. Never used cell trays before this year when I decided to try selling veg starts as a little side hustle. I hate it. I hate it so much and I'm never using them again. Even if I continue & grow into a proper home-based nursery business, I will never again stray from soil blocks. Far superior in every way. Even for my succulent propagations, I regret putting them in cell trays. Should've gone with the 2" pots from the start.

Yes they are worth it! They last for years. Very sturdy.

thank you, high quality video and very packed with information!

So Poo Tube shat this vid up to me again. A little feedback after my first year with winstrips. Still loving them. 99% of my help is either Woofers, or neighbors with not a lot of gardening experience, at least large scale. Winstrips require very little training to fill, none at all to empty for planting. So I can fill them, or line someone out on it in about a minute. Yes the extra holes are a pain in the arse. Thought about spray foam, but I very much avoid frangible synthetic anything in my garden, don't use plastic row cover, etc. Too much plastic everywhere already! I fill them in a flat bottomed masonry mixing tub, available from home Depot for less than $20. So I fill a tray, poke or knock out the annoying extra holes, dump the excess soil from the masonry tub back into the main container them keep moving, filling more. And I always put them them in solid bottom flats to hold water for those rootsies. Don't over water, or let them dry out. So far nothing but good results and easy transplanting, and they seem like they'll last a LOOONG time. And Jessie, I'd be glad to have a beer or few with you anytime if you're in Oregon.

Awesome Video as Always!!

Thank you, immediately got to the point. Subscribed!

Thank you for the information, very good informative video

Whether I’m using punnets, plastic or paper pots for seedlings or cuttings, I place them in a tray of damp sand. If I can’t get the seedlings out for some reason the roots can continue into the damp sand.

Conor has a video on his KZfaq channel (look in playlists for tools, 12/12) where he goes over what he sees as then advantages of Winstrips, and how he loads and waters them.

I worked in a foundry an when we made sand molds we taped them , which sets an compacts the sand so it doesn't fall out the bottom.

Hmm like your videos and podcast We tried soil blocks, but just found it to be too time consuming and the soil mix had to be just so... We load them and place them on a plastic sheet and have never had the bottoms dry out. As for the handling, you can walk around with two winstrips carried like briefcases no problem; never worry about them falling apart. What attracted us the most was the air pruning and the durability.

You go from days of making soil blocks to one day of filling the trays! Lots of People have trouble making soil blocks (Hoss), I understand the roots of soil blocks tend to grow from block to block. They recommend filling them with dry medium, the soil in the holes falls through which allows them to air prune properly!

If you're from Europe, check out Containerwise! They make similair strenght celltrays (company based in UK). They are cheaper than the Winstrips, but doesn't airprune as good. Lasts 15+ years tho!

Home gardener here. I agree I do like soil blocks better however these are just so much faster to fill. If it didn’t take me a whole day to make soil blocks I’d use them so much more.

Starting our very first, large garden this year. 40' x 40'. We rolled out paper, covered it in some soil for weight and it has now been tarped for nearly six weeks. We are making our first attempt with soil blocks. Maybe next year we will try this type of tray. We are throwing everything at our garden using your tips Jesse. Michael Tackett from Parrottsville TN. We will keep you posted on our results.

Thanks for the info. I'm trialing them this year too, and have been really surprised how much of a learning curve there is to loading them - they make me feel like an idiot, because I put dirt in, then pick up the tray and all the dirt falls out 🤦‍♀️ The point about closing the open holes at the top is spot on! I have the 128s and my hope was to use them for my lettuce successions, being a perfect 2-3 week tray, that can stand up to many uses per season. So far, they get a pass, but I definitely need to start treating them as their own thing, not just a pumped up cell tray

THANKS for giving the answer first. Very kind! I did listen to the whole thing but it helped my thought process to have the answer first. I'm a home gardener doing indoor seeds starting. I need that added time flexibility. I already own sturdy 24-cell trays w/no air pruning holes that are OK but for new air pruning trays I may go for 6 cell trays since there are things I don't want a lot of. Epic Gardening has an air pruning seed starting 6 cell tray that looks good so that could be my pick.

Ty, I always wanted to know this

Looks like Bootstrap Farmer has the 72 plug “air prune” tray as well.

There are cell trays on the market now that are so strong that you can stand on for anyone needing any. They aren’t all as pants as they use to be

Nice. Been waiting for something like this to balance Connor's profile of the trays vs. blocks. I'm on a mainly paperpot tray system but, as I find some crops just don't like paper chains and COVID's been making it hard to get more from Diego, I'm settling on a blocks in paperpot trays and am pretty happy with it. Winstrip is the temptation in the corner, however. Kinda curious what kind of densities you could get with winstrip trays cast to fit paperpot bottom trays.

I would like to see a video about the watering trays and the pop-out "attachments."

Winstrip trays are good for people like me that absolutely hate soil blocks. They stress me out just thinking about them.

I’ll add the Winstrips onto the gridder order...good tools ain’t cheap!!

If you put handle on the plywood base, then load the soil , gran handle on plywood an pick up an pound on work table .you'll be happy with result

Try walking around without most of the soil falling out. I don't like shallow high intensity plug trays in comparison either because there are no drip trays for them. Not even a baking sheet fits. Although an oversize boot tray will. I'm not sold on soil blocks either because prep is a waste of time. It is just easier to use something you fill once then seed and your are done. I don't get root bound plants because I don't let them get nursery stock big, and I don't have a constant supply of diluted fertilized in the water.

Thanks

Great video 🌿💚💚

How long is "longer," would you estimate? Three years is about what we're getting from the cell inserts if we carefully (and painstakingly!) clean them before storing them out of the light through the winter before using them again the following spring; sometimes, we get a fourth year of service from them. Six years would be a definite improvement over the plastic trays and inserts, and if the winstrips last ten years or so, then I might become a fan. We absolutely want to get away from plastics in our gardening, but we've been thinking in terms of soil blocks.

Cheers mate!

I imagine on the scale that you are doing it might be alot of work, however I would make a suggestion to improve the trays that you have so others might also benefit. You commented that the small squares in the trays should be solid plastic. If I buy some I will put tape on one side of the tray, use spray foam in a can and fill the small squares, let cure and trim flush with a knife. Hope that helps. Keep up the great videos!

What bizarre timing....I just put soil and seeds in my first winstrips today. Def sick of the cheapo flats. Not really interested in the extra work for soil blocks. We'll see how they do.

So if you are a home gardener and are either going to buy 6 winstrip trays or the soil blocker which do you recommend?

I have some as well

Gearing up for a garden next year and I like this option. Im curious how rigid and strong those trays are. I hate the flimsyness of regular trays with a passion.

thanks I just got 10 winstrips I will see if I like them

Would you be able to make initial soil blocks using the winstrips?

💪

What do y'all use as a soil mix for winstrip trays? Perhaps I didn't screen my compost enough, or had too much perlite, but I found almost a third of cells lost a significant amount of soil from the bottom by the time they were transplant ready.

Is that celery 6:25 ??? Can you please share how you got such killer germination 🤔

Quick question. You mention 72 and 128 size cells. You can’t grow a 6-8” tomato or pepper plant in these. Do they make larger cell trays?

$12ea definitely kills it for me.

Dang your up early on a Sunday!

Have you considered filling those obnoxious little holes with something to make them solid?

"raining, or snowing, or hungover...whatever" - Farmer Jesse #tshirt

I felt like you came to the same conclusion I did... Winstrips are a quick and dirty soil block.

Check out the paper pot planter, very easy and saves a lot of time, a worth while long term investment.

Maybe I did something wrong? But I have had horrible germination with these things doing side by side trials with regular 128s and 72s

I got a couple of hundred windstrips for free. They're pretty much bullet proof.

I like the design but the cost to make these is the same as $3 trays because they’re all injection molded. Too expensive in my opinion.

You couldn't get them because they were only sold in commercial quantities.

Vidja says yes, unless you really went balls to the wall with this trial :D Those things are spensive and you have a lot. :O And jinxed it :D

This dude is such a scam.