Mar 24, 2021

Blackmore Co. Launches Air Root Pruning Trays

Blackmore Company has announced the official launch of its Air Tray line of patented root air pruning trays. The Air Tray is a leap forward in tray engineering, unique from all other tray designs on the market — earning it a new, distinctive brand identity.

The cornerstone of this breakthrough technology is a patented tray design that maximizes air flow around the root zone, optimizing root air pruning, and closely stimulating natural root development in container production.

“This innovation will fundamentally change how many segments of our industry, particularly nursery, can grow, transplant and profit from their crops,” said Lars Jensen, national sales manager for Blackmore. “Customers who trialed Air Trays repeatedly found better root branching leads to healthier plants that transplant faster and have improved long-term success.”

Blackmore developled Air Trays in response to an industry challenge. Many agriculture and nursery producers were incurring high costs from plant losses and subsequent replacements that were caused by unsatisfactory root development during production.

“Research demonstrates the importance of air root pruning for long-term crop success after transplant,” said Bill Argo, technical manager at Blackmore. “More specifically, data show that traditional, straight-walled trays and pots minimize air flow, decreasing the opportunity for air root pruning and increasing the risk of plant loss due to root girdling.”

The engineering team at Blackmore is behind the invention of the Air Tray patent. “The Air Tray patented design optimizes air flow by creating the maximum amount of space between the tray and the roots,” said Stefan Johansson, lead engineer. “It is coupled with a breakthrough in thermoform engineering that enables us to manufacture Air Tray features in much larger container sizes (up to 1 gallon capacity).”

The Air Tray line is an American design, produced in the United States. It extends the benefits of air root pruning from propagation to finished stages, adding another benefit of less plastic in production. Customers can find Air Trays customized specifically for, but not limited to, forestry, fruit and nut trees, nursery, shrub, hemp and cannabis applications.

For more information, go to www.blackmoreco.com.