Excited about my new Soil Blocker!
Now I realize that you don't even need them - if you have soil block makers!
I first read about soil block makers 10 years ago in my all time favorite gardening book The New Organic Grower, by Eliot Coleman.
I don't know why I waited so long. I used to spend hours packing soil into little cell packs. Now I can just create blocks of soil as the pots. Now that I see it in action I am going to buy the other sizes of block makers too. You see, the beauty of the system is that you can start a seed in a small block and then transplant it into a larger block when needed. The larger size soil blocks are made with indentations the exact size of the smaller block! I bought my soil blocker from Johnny's Selected Seeds and they have a great PDF file on their website that explains this better.
If you're not following how the blocker works, it is designed to compact the seed-starting medium into the blocks and then "press" out the blocks with a spring-loaded mechanism.
I used to think the soil blocker costs were too high but now I'm reconsidering that. The smaller sizes run around $30 each but the larger 4" size is over $100. All I have now is the medium size but I may spring for the smaller size this year too. I will probably have to pass on the larger size and use pots and make-shift containers for my larger tomato transplants like I did last year. Although I do think the complete soil block maker system is so cool that I will save up and get the larger one for Christmas and have it in production for 2009! I know, I know, we still have all of 2008 to go. I will post about the smaller boil blockers when I begin using them next month. I can hardly wait!
Labels: Seed Starting, Soil Block Maker
posted by Marc at 5:31 PM
5 Comments:
I've seen soil block makers before and really like the idea of them. It's good to hear confirmation that they work well. Thirty bucks isn't bad, especially when you think of all the stupid fragile little pots you won't have to buy anymore, ever. Thanks for the report!
Are they really solid enough to stay together long enough?
I still garden on a small enough scale that it's no problem to just scoop the soil into reused containers (though I sometimes resort to the peat pellets for starting larger jobs), but I could really see a block maker coming in handy if they stay together alright.
I just pot in whatever I can find, like you did last year. My baby strawberries are in small pots ranging from reused plastic nursery pots to soda bottles cut in half. :)
Forget about gardening, I'm going to buy one of these to make soil cubes for my kids to play with. :)
Glad to see some posts come from the Garden Desk lately. Nice to have you back.
meg - I am excited about not having to use the little cel packs anymore.
elizabeth - I haven't used the soil blocks for growing plants in yet but I was surprised how solid the blocks were. I could pick them up without them crumbling. You have to have plenty of moisture in your seed-starting mix. I'm sure if the medium was too dry they would crumble. After the plant gets established, the roots will help hold the block together too.
anthony - You are right about kids liking this! My 10-year old made and crumbled soil blocks all night while I was getting this post together.
I remember reading about them a while back my self. Let us know how they work out.
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