How many trays does one really need?

[cdholden]

Lol, I'm a freak when it comes to trays. I need a tan one for developer, a red one for stop, a white one for fix, two more white ones for selenium toner, and one more tan one for other toner like sepia or whatever.....so six in each size.

.....and don't even get me started on tongs

I'm with you on the tongs, but that was just a convenience when I bought them. Trays? I wanted to do colors, but since they were all white, I just figured it's dark in there most of the time, so I could get away with a Sharpie to identify them in those times of illumination and reorganization.
My OCD steps aside to make way for yours!

[David A. Goldfarb]

I did a purge some years ago, and I've got 19 plus a tray washer, so I think one needs 19 trays plus a tray washer.

[Jess C]

I think you need to have twice as many as you think you need. I never like being a tray short.

[tgtaylor]

I use 6 for B&W RC and 4 for Kallitype/Van Dykes.

Thomas

[SpeedGraphicMan]

It depends what you plan to do in the future.

You never know what you will do 10 years from now.

I like to keep it around 50 however.

And I never use tongs.

[jp]

Bamboo tongs from the kitchen store; not those stupid darkroom tongs that come apart when the rubber tips get wet. I mark the top (dry part) with a letter to indicate dektol, fix, etc...

I've got sets (3-5 trays) suited for 5x7, 8x10, 11x14, 16x20, and some odd ones too. New plastic patterson trays are surprisingly affordable for new darkroom gear, but much of what I have is lawnsale material or the old trays I started with 20+ years ago. I keep the ones I'm not using nested and on a wire shelf under my enlarger table.

A clean dry [larger] tray makes an excellent horizontal work surface for loading/unloading film holders and loading daylight tanks. Just put it in the sink and you're ready to work. Nothing needs to be cleaned to have a quickly ready work surface. Nothing is going to roll away or be out of place in the dark if you keep your work area inside the tray.

When developing film in daylight tanks, an extra plastic tray makes a nice place to warm chemistry with warm water.

[sepstein17]

...let's not forget the set of trays you'll need during Passover.