Styrofoam is a porous material that even with the best sanitation practices, can still hold pathogens like cylindrocarpon deep within the block resulting in stunting or mortality in field planted trees. For this reason, styro-blocks have a maximum lifespan of 4 years and then must be disposed of. 

Our 40x120mil Air Trays are a hard, non-porous plastic that can be sanitized easily ensuring nothing is left behind deep within the structure of the tray. The lifespan of an Air Tray is as long as it maintains structural integrity, up to 10+ years. After which, it can be recycled.

Styro-block seedlings grow down the length of the plug and only air prune once coming in contact with the bottom. This results in less vigorous and/or lateral rooting. The roots are also prone to ripping during extraction from the container due to growth into the porous Styrofoam.

Elle Pot roots air prune not only at the bottom, but across the entire surface area of the plug. Every time the root tip air prunes, it sets another root bud behind the paper. This results in a more complex root architecture, making for faster establishment and higher survivability. Due to the space between plug and container, extraction is easy and imposes no trauma to the root system. 

Traditional plugs have nothing holding them together and after jostling during transport and loading planting bags, the soil can fall away from the roots. These exposed roots increase the likelihood of J or U rooting.

Elle Pot plugs are wrapped in a biodegradable paper that holds the plug together from extraction to the forest. This makes for easy bag transfer and planting while decreasing the likelihood of J or U rooting. 

Flat fill containerized seedlings must be over sown and then thinned and transplanted. Transplanting does shock the root and set the tree back a week or so during the pivotal establishing period. This leads to shorter, weaker trees and adds variance to the crop.

Elle Pot blanks can easily be exchanged with a germinated Elle Pot. No root breakage results in a uniform crop with less variance. 

Styrofoam cannot be recycled and is hard to dispose of. With a maximum lifespan of 4 years, this waste builds up. Over sowing for transplanting inevitably wastes seed which isn’t always readily available. Seed collections are labor intensive and if they haven’t been done in a while, seed shortages lead to seedling shortages. 

Our Air Trays have an indefinite lifespan and can be recycled after use. With the ability to exchange blank cells for germinated cells, no over sow is necessary. Elle Pots can be single sown, eliminating seed waste.