A 'flop' that flourished

This article described how tobacco seedlings, from a shaky start in trays, ended up larger, healthier and hardier than those grown in seedbeds.

The first on-farm proof of a new system of raising seedlings in special trays has come from tobacco farmers in the Limpopo Lowveld. Here, two members of a burley tobacco study group run by farmers in the Ohrigstad Valley, L Vosloo and JMF Havenga, have been astounded by the difference between seedlings grown in trays and those raised in conventional seedbeds.

Though the same age, and planted out at the same time, the tray plants were head and shoulders above the ordinary seedlings after 30 days. Leaf development was far further advanced and all the tray plants had survived transplanting, in sharp contrast to the conventionally raised seedlings, where there were noticeable gaps in the rows.

"One of the biggest advantages is the more even stand," said Vosloo."It is at least 10% better than with ordinary seedbed plants, and that alone should cover the extra cost of raising the plants in trays. But on top of that, the plants themselves are healthier and better, and they should also be off the lands earlier than normal." What makes the tray seedlings even more remarkable is that the experiment at first seemed a dismal flop. "I'd heard so much about the tray system that I decided to try a few on an experimental basis," said Vosloo.