"Paper Chain" Transplant System

Paper Chain Transplant System PLANTERS John Hendrickson is taking the backache out of transplanting The Paper Chain Pot Transplant PCPT system he and his wife Karen discovered on a trip to Japan is a “game-changer” for small growers like himself It allows a grower to transplant as many as 264 plants in less than a minute all while walking down the field “You plant the seeds in the paper pots on trays and when it’s time to transplant the pots are in a chain that simply feeds through the transplanter ” explains Hendrickson who distributes the PCPT system through Small Farm Works LLC “Pot chains are available with 2-in 4-in and 6-in in-row spacing Simply stake one end of the chain and pull the transplanter forward down the row ” Transplanters are available in one and two-row configurations They hold trays of chained pots for transplant The transplanter opens the furrow sets the pot and pushes soil around it Packing wheels tamp soil around the newly set pot “The transplanter works best in a flat uniform tilled bed and generally best in lighter soils ” says Hendrickson “Heavier soils may require using a rake to cover the pot with soil ” The PCPT system consists of transplanter paper pots opening rods an opening frame and growing trays The opening rods and opening frame allow growing medium to be added to pots The 12 by 24-in trays each with four drain holes per square inch are for seed starting and to transfer the potted plants to the field Dibble plates create uniform depressions for the seed and seeders are also available that seed an entire tray at a time Once pots are filled and seeded the opening frame is moved to the next tray “The paper pot system is great for hand transplanting as well as mechanized ” says Hendrickson “The paper pots come apart easily if selling individual or multiple seedlings to customers at farmers markets or other sell points ” Hendrickson has distribution rights for North America and his website is the only English language information source for the system He is also a user of the system It can be used with lettuce and other salad greens beans peas corn herbs cut flowers and even ornamental grasses “It is absolutely wonderful for planting onions leeks scallions and shallots ” says Hendrickson “I use it for them as well as for spinach beets kohlrabi and basil I had trouble getting uniform germination with spinach leaving gaps in beds With the paper chain pot system I get virtually 100 percent germination ” He notes that transplanting into newly tilled fields gives the crops a head start on weeds The PCPT system also allows him to start successive plantings in optimum greenhouse conditions regardless of field soil conditions that can affect direct seeding The single row transplanter is around $1 200 Paper pot chains vary by size and number of pots per chain generally ranging from $2 00 to $3 25 per set Cases contain either 75 or 150 paper pot sets “We often get initial orders in the $2 000 to $3 000 range ” says Hendrickson “Growers recognize the reduced labor especially painful stoop labor I would never try to grow the amount of alliums that I do without the paper chain pot transplanter Doing it by hand is such a huge and arduous task ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Small Farm Works LLC N1749 Yerges Road Reeseville Wis 53579 ph 920 927-7362; smallfarmworks@tds net; www smallfarmworks com

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