This is a bench and a tray in one unit. The surface is a moulded tray rather than a plain deck, so the same structure that carries the plants also floods and drains them, and the drainage is pre-formed rather than added. The whole bed runs on lockable casters, which means one person can shift a row to open an aisle instead of the house having a permanent walkway through it. Size and tray layout are set on the order rather than taken from a list.
On a propagation bench the crop is a tray of plugs, and the two things that decide whether it grades well are how evenly the tray wets and how often it has to be handled. Combining the tray with the bench addresses both: the surface floods uniformly, and the bed moves rather than the trays being carried.
The unit is a 4 by 8 foot bench with a moulded polypropylene tray as its surface, on a galvanizedsteel frame with lockable casters. Because the tray is moulded rather than assembled from sheets, thedrainage is built in and the flood and drain cycle does not depend on a joint holding water.
That combination is what makes it a single product rather than two. A bench bought separately and atray laid on top of it has two sets of dimensions to reconcile, and the one that is usually wrong isthe fall: a tray with its own drainage does not need the bench to be shimmed. Units of this family sitwith the rest of the hydroponics system range on this site.
The tray fills to a shallow depth, the plugs take up what they need from below, and then it emptiescompletely. Flooding from below is what keeps the surface of the plug dry, which matters on a seedlingcrop because a wet leaf surface is where damping off starts. The complete drain is what keeps the rootzone aerated between cycles.
Because the tray has pre-formed drainage, the cycle is repeatable from one bench to the next ratherthan being adjusted bench by bench. The unused solution returns to the tank, so the water the systemuses is the water the crop holds plus what evaporates, and the tray is not flushed to waste.
The casters lock, which matters more than it sounds: a bench that rolls when it is being loaded isa bench that will not hold a position, and the locking is what lets the row be set and left. One personmoves a row, so the bed can be shifted to open an aisle where the work is happening rather than thehouse carrying a walkway for its whole length.
The deck is a heavy duty wire mesh on rust resistant legs. A mesh surface is used because apropagation house runs wet: it lets water pass and air move under the tray, so the surface does not sitdamp, and it is easier to clean down between crops than a solid top would be.
| Product type | Nursery bed with an ebb and flow tray on a rolling bench |
| Standard size | 4 ft by 8 ft |
| Tray | Moulded PP tray with pre-formed drainage |
| Irrigation | Ebb and flow, flooded from below then drained completely |
| Frame and legs | Galvanized steel, rust resistant |
| Movement | Lockable casters, one person shifts a row |
| Deck | Heavy duty wire mesh for airflow and sanitation |
| Application | Greenhouse hydroponics, seeding and flower growing |
| Crops | Lettuce, herbs, leafy seedlings and plug plants |
| Documentation | Installation and use instructions supplied with the shipment |
| Customisation | Size and tray layout set on the order |
The floor is the first item, because a rolling bench needs a flat run for its travel. The benchesare set out on the layout, the drain and feed connections are made at the end of the run with enoughslack for the movement, and the flood depth is set once the system is wet rather than from the drawingso the tray can be seen filling evenly.
Maintenance is the tray, the casters and the drain. The tray is checked for a fall that has moved,because a tray that does not drain flat leaves solution in one corner and that is where root problemsbegin. The casters and the floor line are cleared at the start of each season, and the drain, levelcontrol and filters are cleaned on a short cycle.
Benches of this type are used for plug and seedling production in vegetable and flower nurseries,for lettuce and herb propagation on a soilless root zone, and for houses that are run on a short cyclewhere the crop is moved between zones as it grows. They suit a nursery that wants more trays on thefloor it already has, an operation standardising a propagation house across a block, and projectslaying out a new seeding house from the layout drawing. A rolling nursery bed built on the sameprinciple is described in the movable rolling nursery bed with ebb and flow table page.
Research and extension material on controlled environment agriculture is published by the Controlled Environment Agriculture Center at the University of Arizona. Farming and market reporting for growers in southern Africa is published by Farmer's Weekly SA. A rolling bench with a wire mesh top is described in the ebb and flow rolling bench with 2mm mesh page.
Because the tray and the frame then have one set of dimensions. A bench and a tray boughtseparately have to be reconciled, and the detail that usually ends up wrong is the fall the tray needsin order to drain.
Because it keeps the surface of the plug dry. A wet leaf surface on a seedling crop is wheredamping off starts, and flooding from below also gives the root zone a fill and drain cycle ratherthan leaving it saturated.
The galvanized steel frame and legs are rated for 15 to 20 years under normal growing conditions.The tray, the casters and the pump run on their own service cycles and are replaced as they wear.
We provide a 10 year structural warranty and a 5 year anti-corrosion warranty on the galvanized steelwork. Details are set out in the contract for each project.
Send your house dimensions, the crop you plan to run and the tray size you intend to use. We reply with a layout drawing and a full quotation.
