Blackmore Company Launches Air Tray® Line of Air Root Pruning Trays
BELLEVILLE, Michigan. (March 24, 2021) - Blackmore Company, the leader in plant production tray engineering and manufacturing, is announcing the official launch of their 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 (Figure 1). 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 simulating 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,” says Lars Jensen, National Sales Manager for Blackmore Company. “Customers who trialed Air Trays® repeatedly found better root branching leads to healthier plants that transplant faster and have improved long term success.”
Figure 1: New Air Tray® logo design
Blackmore developed 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,” says Dr. Bill Argo, Technical Manager at Blackmore Company, “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,” says Lead Engineer, Stefan Johansson. “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 or 120mm diameter to date).” Additionally, for growers looking for an extended use option, Blackmore has partnered with Proptek, the global pioneer in long-life tray and container manufacturing, to produce an injection molded line of Air Trays®.
The Air Tray® line by Blackmore Company is an American design, produced in the United States. It extends the benefits of air root pruning from propagation to finished stages, adding an additional 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.
About Blackmore Company
Blackmore Company was founded in 1966 by Skip Blackmore who saw a need in the industry for a better way to sow seedling plugs by designing the first seed plug tray. More than half a century later, the Blackmore Company is now recognized as the leader in seed sowing equipment innovations, seed sowing and transplant technology and plant production techniques. Blackmore Company remains a family run business and continues to pay close attention to the industry and the needs of their customers, designing custom solutions for a customers’ unique needs and producing more than 30 million trays per year.
For More Information, Please Contact:
David Dobos | Sales Manager at Blackmore Company| info@blackmoreco.com
800-874-8660 | www.blackmoreco.com