Hydrofarm CK64081 7.5 Inch Vented Dome

I am an experienced grower, and grow seeds like a mad scientist year round. I love these and own 4 of them. After 2 years of almost constant use the plastic has not degraded at all, and they are still going strong. It is true these are not made of rock-hard plastic, but they are not at all like the crinkly plastic pots that you will find holding the annuals at Home Depot. They are perfectly strong as long as you use them as they were intended: just don't try to set another tray on top of them and you are fine. I use them on the flats that come with shallow domes, as soon as the plants get tall enough to need more room. In this sense, they are indispensable, because otherwise you are forced to harden off some plants while others have not yet sprouted and need the protection. The adjustable ventilation openings are essential and can be used to gradually harden off the seedlings and to prevent excessive condensation and fungal/mold growth. I use them inside and out and they also keep birds off of new plantings. Tips: 1) Don't even THINK about leaving plants outside covered by plastic in the sun, without significant ventilation. It will fry them. 2) Be sure to clean them inside and out with Dawn or an antifungal spray (Safer makes a good one) before using on a new tray, in order to prevent disease/damping off. 3) If condensation builds up too much, I tape some cotton wads on the edges of the bottom tray's two longer sides, about 10 inches from the corners. This allows the top to sit on the lower tray but lets in more air. Product: Five Stars, for doing exactly what they are supposed to do. Seller: 3 stars, because two were not well packed and were damaged in shipping. However, replacements were sent immediately with no hitch.

Mines came with 3 vents to control the temps and humidity levels inside. 1 was on the top of the dome and the other 2 were on opposite sides of each other on the walls of the dome. Came perfectly packed, not crushed or warped or anything like that. The sides of the dome came a little dirty and scuffed but nothing a good cleaning took care of. The dome top came polished and clean so all good there. Even with condensation build up I haven't experienced any moisture dripping out from the edges. I do not put lights directly on top of this (nor do I recommend doing such) so I do not know the full strength of this dome but I have to say this dome is thicker then some other domes I have seen and it holds its shape well. Over all serving its purpose perfectly.

I'm sure there are higher quality seedling domes available, but they all seem to be considerably more expensive. This is a pretty good, serviceable, "economy" style product. The plastic is thicker on this dome than the 2" dome on the set I originally bought, but it is still not what I would call sturdy. But it works fine and does what I bought it for. And I consider the price to be easily affordable for a beginning gardener. However, as many other reviewers have mentioned, I did not receive the end vent covers. I contacted Hydrofarm directly to see if they could help me out. They promptly sent me two replacement covers -- of the wrong size. When I notified them of the error, they sent me what appeared to be a complete assortment of several of every size of vent cover they have. Apparently, they wanted to make sure that I got what I needed, no matter what size it was. So I have to give them high marks for customer service.

Originally purchased 1 of these to help start vegetable seeds. It worked so well that I purchased another 2. The plastic is sort of flimsy/thin yes so you don't want to set anything on it. But for what you pay for it that is what one should expect. The vent on top has a plastic piece which can be used to close the vent, but the one on each side of the dome can not be closed.

These vented domes were fantastic additions to my little greenhouse set-up. I used to use no covers at all, and the little plants just struggled with drying out and cold. Then I graduated to plastic lids that let the tomato and pepper plants grow to 2"-3' tall. And then they would keel over when the lids had to come off. These tall dome lids let your plants get tall enough to survive. And have vented tops so that moisture doesn't cause damping off to kill the plants. I wish these came in a slightly sturdier plastic though. A few of them broke even just in shipping, which was a pain. I also wish that they fit better onto the sturdier type of plant trays. I'll be going into a second season with them in a month or so. We'll see how they hold up.

The only reason this product is able to sell for $13 is because there is some amount of monopoly on what products fit best with the most popular 22" seedling tray (seedling tray itself is half the cost). The product comes with three cheap plastic pieces that fit the top and sides of the lid to allow for venting; the plastic pieces easily pop out from the holes in which you put them in. Additionally, the lid is not a "snug" fit on the plastic 22" tray, but awkwardly pops on to it. It should be noted that it appears to work for the intended purpose, but it is not a "lifetime" product, or even a product that looks like it would last a reasonably long time. When thinking how long this product will last, think of the cheap plastic containers that fast food restaurants use to contain there salads. Since it is easily destroyed and the "vent" plastic pieces are easily lost, you may find yourself purchasing this overpriced product again. If I were repurchase a moisture container for my seedlings, I would buy something more sturdy, like: http://www.amazon.com/Clear-Plastic-Boxes-Large-Deep/dp/B00012FER6/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1370207697&sr=8-9&keywords=clear+plastic+container With a box like this you will have to cut your own holes, but it can have multiple uses and you can still fit the 22" tray directly inside the entire container; no need for a lid. Double the cost, but ten times the quality.

You get one good quality cover that has a good bit of thickness to it and it's better than the cheapie ones I can pick up locally. It has a nice height to it that allows for larger plants to have some room to grow. It's made to last a big longer and does hold heat & moisture perfectly. I'd buy it again.

this is a good quality product the big box it ships in is a bit small but the small folds crease out

Just what I need to start my seedlings, fits neatly into the 10-20 trays seem to be working good so far. Let's see how many seasons we will get out of this dome.

Fits well and adjusts well.

This came quickly and undamaged and the vents were too easy to put in I can’t wait to start my clones... 😆

This dome does everything I need it to. It does hang over the edges a bit, so I anticipate a little leakage regarding the humidity, but all in all it's doing it's job and it was a lot less expensive than any other domes I saw out there. It's a little flimsy but that doesn't bother me because I don't intend to put anything on top of it.

Forgot my last topic i fund the piece