plotsFeatures · Plan
Bench space in April, seen in December
Every transplant crop in your plan creates its own tray, in the right size, on the right sow week. PlotsFarm adds the trays up across 26 weeks and shows you the April crunch while it is still December. Count germination at the bench, move the trays out on transplant day, and the plan knows what happened.
Trays from the plan
This week's sowing, already listed
You do not build a sowing list; the plan builds it. Each nursery-grown planting creates a tray that mirrors its sow date and transplant date, with the seed count computed from the plants you need, your safety margin, and the catalog germination rate. Open the nursery on Monday and this week's sowing is there: Sungold, two 72-cell trays, 155 seeds. Change the planting and the tray follows.
- Trays auto-create from transplant plantings
- Seeds to sow: plants, plus margin, divided by germination rate
Germination
Germination you counted
The plan assumed 80 percent. Your lettuce flat says 76 of 128. Record the count on the tray and PlotsFarm works out the rate, 59 percent, and keeps it beside the one the plan assumed. A count that low puts a hint at the top of the nursery page: how many plants that leaves against the plan, and when to sow a top-up tray while there is still time. Over seasons, your own germination numbers are what the seed math leans on.
At the bench
108 of 180, counted at the bench
You count with the flat in front of you, not at the laptop. On the phone the tray is one tap from the nursery list, the count field is sized for a gloved thumb, and the number is on the web before you reach the next flat. The same list shows what to sow this week and what is due to go out, so the greenhouse round is one pass with the phone, not two with a clipboard.
Transplant day
Trays out, bed planted
Transplant day closes the loop. Complete the transplant task from the bed and the planting moves from the bench to Bed 8, the tray's slots come back to the capacity count, and the planting card starts counting toward harvest. Transplant a week late and the plan knows the real date, not the planned one, so the harvest estimate and the next task shift with it.
- Complete the transplant task from the phone at the bed
- Bench capacity frees the same day
Capacity
Tray sizes and bench capacity
Tell PlotsFarm how many slots your bench holds and it projects demand 26 weeks out. The bar turns terracotta in the weeks you are over budget, and a planner rule flags the overrun months ahead. For each planting it picks the smallest standard tray that fits the seed count without exceeding the catalog density, so the sow task names the tray you will actually fill. Sizes are counted in seeds, not plants.
More in nursery and propagation
Tray, pot up, harden off
Each tray carries its stage, so the bench list reads like the bench.
Tray picker
100 plants is not 100 seeds; the picker sizes the tray from seeds, margin, and germination.
The sowing list in the greenhouse
This week's trays on the phone, sized for wet hands.
Safety margin
A per-nursery margin, 20 percent by default, built into every seed count.
History
Every tray keeps its sow date, count, and transplant date for next year's math.
Nursery-aware Steward
Steward back-dates sow dates so accepted plans create trays in the right week.
Starting most of your season under plastic? See how market gardeners run the nursery from the plan.
PlotsFarm for market gardeners →Works with
Pricing
Start on the free tier
Free is a plan, not a trial. Plan the season, work the task list, log harvests, run a CSA and an online store, and take payments, with no subscription and no card. Selling carries a per-transaction fee; the numbers are on the pricing page.