10 Best Seed Starting Trays for Hydroponics

Starting a seed or germinating seed is like the foundation of any gardening activity. You cannot have flowers or fruits until you have a germinated seed. Some people find it difficult to germinate seeds or the success ratio is too less. A few years back I was at the same stage. Out of 10 seeds, only 3-4 used to sprout in good condition. 

Seed starting tray is basically a custom-built tray where you can place your seeds and growing medium generally coco peat is used, and put some water in it and leave it for 6-7 days. These trays provide the perfect environment for the seeds to start. 

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning at no extra cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

I have covered the best seed starting tray that you can get on amazon. These are in no particular order. Each one can be more useful than the other as per the usage.

I would highly recommend beginners and people who want to get into hydroponics to use seed starting trays. I have also covered in detail how to start a seed in another article.

Here we will be looking at the features, built quality, the plastic they have used, environmental factors if the material is biodegradable or not, heating pad etc. 

Let’s begin. 

1. Delxo 10-Pack Seed Trays Seedling Starter Tray

Delxo Germination Kit is one of the best in quality and also serves the purpose very well. The package comes with 10 pieces of seed trays with each having 12 cells, so in total, you can germinate around 120 seeds at once (considering 1 per cell). The size of this seed starting tray is 2.5” X 1.5”

The package also has 10 pieces of watertight base tray and the humidity dome to make it complete. 20 Plant labels are also provided for your help. Few miniature plant tools are given to work your way around with the seed germination. The material is sturdy and non-toxic. 

Looking at the quality of the material, it seems durable and can handle temperature and humidity. A transparent humidity dome along with an air vent on top and a seed tray gives a quick look at the growth. The base tray has vents at the bottom so as to prevent root rot caused by excess water collection. 

This seed starter tray is pretty good for gardeners who are starting with hydroponics and want to germinate some seeds at home or on the rooftop. This will work for starting seeds like small herbs, green vegetables like broccoli, spinach, tomatoes, flowers, strawberries, etc. 

Also, Read “DIY 5-Gallon Bucket Hydroponic System on a Budget”

2. SOLIGHT Cloning, Propagation and Germination Station with Humidity Domes

This value pack comes with two sets of seed germination trays with 60 cells each. That makes your total seed starting capacity 120 (considering 1 seed per cell). The tray can be covered with a transparent humidity dome as well. 

Additionally, this seed tray comes with two seed germination heat mats, which helps to increase the humidity within the dome to make the best possible seedlings out of your seeds. The size of the heat mats is 10” x 20.75” per piece. 

The heat mat and the air vents on the humidity dome make it easier for you to control the humidity inside the dome. The trays are made with high-quality plastic that won’t degrade too fast.

It is good for starting flower seeds, or greens like spinach, and tomato seeds as well as for plant cloning. 

There is just one thing that can be a problem if you are someone who just pours in water without caring for the quantity, then this tray is not for you as the seed tray does not have a hole in the bottom so the water will not get out of it so easily. 

Also Read “8 Best LED Grow Lights for Indoor Hydroponic Gardening“

3. Gardzen 5-Pack Seed Sprout Trays for Indoor Gardening

Unlike the other trays that we have looked at in this list, this is more of a seed sprouter. 

This is a multi-purpose seed starter tray. You can use it for sprouting edible greens or starting wheatgrass alfalfa and other kitchen herbs and shrubs. 

Made with BPA free plastic, it is safe to consume edibles directly grown in this tray. There are tiny holes in the upper part of the tray where the seeds are to be put. The compact design makes a perfect hot and humid environment for the seeds to germinate. 

Beneath the white upper tray there is a green container that holds the water, so once the seeds sprout the roots can get in touch with the water and grow. 

Also, Read “The Only pH Down guide you’ll ever need“

4. iPower Heating Seed Starter Germination Kit

This is a gardener’s dream. A seed starting tray with a built-in heater to maintain the hot and humid climate irrespective of the weather outside. 

The kit has three parts. First the seedling tray, a humidity dome, and a heating plate tray. The manufacturer claims that this is 100% waterproof. 

Disclaimer: I have not used it personally. It is advised to be careful around electronic devices that interact with liquids.(like this one here)

Each seed tray has about 24 cells with a drain hole in the bottom of each one of those cells. This allows a quick outlet for the extra water in case any and does not hurt the root growth by blocking oxygen. The size of the seed starting kit is 15. 1 in length, 9. 5″ wide, and 7. 5″ tall.

The electric heater runs on 9 watts of power and provides moderate warmth to the seed to enhance its growth of the seeds. 

5. Indoor Gardening Germination Trays with Drain Holes – Reusable

This seed tray comes in a packet of 10 pieces. Having 72 cells each you can easily use a few of them to get hundreds of seeds started at once. The build quality is good as per the price. The material is BPA free and claimed eco-friendly too. These trays can easily last for at least 25-30 rotations of seeds. 

A hole in each of the seed cell is given so that extra water or nutrient gets drained out. This helps to solve the problem of root rot due to less oxygen available to the roots. 

One disadvantage with this kind of tray is that it does not come with any heat mat or a dome to preserve humidity. But it wouldn’t bother people who have some experience in seed starting. 

Talking about the size of each cell, it is 1.5 inches wide and 1.8 inches in depth which are adequate to start a new seed of spinach, lettuce, tomato etc. 

Also Read “21 Best Hydroponic Gardening Gift Ideas to start 2022“

6. Stackable Stainless Steel Seed Sprouting Kit

SOLIGT seed starting tray is most helpful to people who want to grow wheatgrass or microgreens like alfalfa, broccoli, beans, etc in their backyard or in an indoor hydroponics system.

This one has an 8-inch diameter and comes with a base tray and 2 additional trays. Each tray can hold up to 100 seeds, so in total, you can start almost 300 seeds at once. 

The material used in these trays is food-grade stainless steel and they are rustproof plus BPA free. There is a rinse mesh at the bottom so that the extra water is out and the seeds are ventilated enough. 

There is a 3-year manufacturer warranty on these stainless steel trays. So, if anything is gonna happen to them you will be covered. Seems like too good a deal to me. 

Also Read “How to Grow Hydroponic Tomatoes using Kratky Method“

7. VIVOSUN Heating Seed Starter Germination Kit – Premium

VIVOSUN seedling starter is one of the best starter kits you can get. Coming from a trusted name like VIVOSUN the tray is a perfect 10 on build quality and features. 

Starting with the tray itself, it has 24 cells with a cell size of 2.3 inches wide and 1.5 inches in depth. This is enough for most types of seeds to germinate. 

The unique part of this tray is that it comes with a 9 W heated tray pad which can provide the exact amount of moisture and humidity required. It heats the tray up to 25 degrees celsius and is covered with IP67 waterproof protection. 

A cover is also given which makes it a perfect humidity dome. Seed germination becomes fun and easy with the VIVOSUN seed starter tray. 

8. MIXC 10 Packs Seed Starting Tray

MIXC seed starter tray is a 10 pack kit. Each tray has 12 cells of dimensions of 1.5 inches wide and 1 inch deep. The trays are made with high quality durable and BPA free plastic. 

It comes with a transparent vented dome cover to maintain the humidity inside the seed starter. The vents can be adjusted to control the amount of air flowing into the tray. There is a small hole in the bottom of each cell to keep out excess water. 

This is a great seed starting tray for people who are just starting on their hydroponics journey. 12 seeds can be germinated at once. You can start herbs, greens, flowers, fruits or any other plants in this as it has enough space for them to grow out. 

What makes this kit unique is they also provide seed plant labels. These can really save your time and energy and help you plan the succession of your hydroponic garden. 

9. KND Seed Starter Tray kit – Biodegradable Germination Trays

These are the most eco-friendly seed starting trays on this list. Made with bio-degradable wood fibre, these seed starting trays are really easy to transplant. You have to just cut out each cell from the tray and place them in the garden or hydroponic system. 

One tray contains 12 cells and the whole packet has 20 such trays. They also provide you with 50 plant labels and a marker pen too (so thoughtful). Cell dimensions are 1.3 inches wide and 1.9 inches deep. 

The best part is that the seed tray cells automatically start to degrade into organic fertiliser and can be transplanted along with the seed.

You can use it to start a variety of seeds for ex. micro-green, wheat-grass, rose, vegetable, wildflower, lavender, cucumber, herbs, succulent, mint, marigold, zinnia, lettuce, cilantro, watermelon, clover, strawberry, catnip, tomato etc. 

10. Gardzen 5-Set Garden Propagator Set

Gardzen seed starting kit is well designed and can easily start 70 seeds per tray. The dimension of each cell is 1.5 inches wide and 2 inches deep.

At the end of the cell, there is a drainage hole for the water outlet. The seed cells also have grooves to circulate the excess water into other cells. 

There is a base tray that can hold the excess water. The whole tray can be covered with a dome to build humidity for the seeds. There are two vents in the dome to control the humidity. 

Once the seeds start to sprout you can fill some nutrients in the base tray and it gets evenly spread to all the seeds. 

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