This is a leftover candy box with a plastic insert and sturdy cardboard box. Each area could hold 1/2" of soil . Would this be enough soil for seedlings?

Well, I wouldn't want to use it. Half an inch of soil can dry awfully fast, and with tiny seedlings, dry=dead. If you can pay that much attention to them, and check very often, it could be done. And I think you'd have to prick them out and transplant very early as there's so little room for root growth.

Karen

There just isn't enough depth for the seedlings to put down decent roots.

Okey, dokey. Out to the trash it goes.

Cheryl, your avatar is so funny. That poor dog looks embarrassed by the silly hat you made him wear.

Karen

I think that the shallowest practical plastic contain ers are the black-an d-clear clamshells that supermarkets sell "B achelor C hicken" in.

The black plastic tray on the bottom holds about 2" of soiless mix. The clear snap-on humidity dome slows down evaporation, so the shallow mix won't dry out AS fast as it would otherwise. But as soon as seedlings pop up, you should remove the rid to reduce humidity and damping-off.

I think that 2.5" is signifigantly better. The roots won't bottom out in just a few days, and you have a longer time window before you have to pot up. I prefer even deeper cells, but then I tend to leave plants in trays longer than is ideal, becuase I seldom have room to pot them all up and keep them under lights.