Uniformly germinating seedlings for hydroponics is challenging. Fine root hairs become entangled in media and separating them can cause damage, introduce pathogens, and otherwise hamper seedling growth. A slant board approach allows for uniform seedling germination, downward rootgrowth, and vigorous seedlings that are easy to transplant. This 3D printed device allows for up to 8 acrylic slant boards to be installed for simultaneous germination and maintains slant boards at a 75° angle. We recommend using two for each set of 1-8 slant boards to maximize stability. Slant boards used in the example image are made of 5 mm thick acrylic sheets cut to 15 x 30 cm.

Please refer to the paper below for recommended conditions for seed germination using slant boards:

Langenfeld, N.J., & Bugbee, B. (2022). Germination and seedling establishment for hydroponics: The benefit of slant boards. PLOS ONE, 17(10), e0275710. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0275710

Modeler: Suraj K. Chandramouli