 Browse |
 Categories |
 In the Garden » Veggie Plot |
 |
Forum
A place for Freedom Gardeners to connect, share, grow, and learn!
|
Using Soil Blocks for starting your plants
Topics: 17 Posts: 216
|
Created about 1 month ago Last year I started using my soil blocker I bought from peddlers wagon. I think is the best way I've found to start my seedlings. I have three shelves 2'x4' each with two sets of 2 T8 warm bulbs (6500K) Here is a picture of my seedling area:  One of the things that makes soil blocks a good way to start your plants is the fact that your roots don't get all tied in a knot like in plastic pots. Instead they air prune the ends of the roots as they poke out of the soil block. This makes for a seedling with a root ball not a root mess. Here is a picture showing how the roots grow out about an 1/8" then start to die back.  |
Topics: 25 Posts: 382
|
Created about 1 month ago Just saw this (been out of town) - Nice job! |
Topics: 2 Posts: 27
|
Created about 1 month ago Those are nice wooden flats! I'm thinking about getting a soil blocker for next year. Do they hold together well until it's time to transplant? I'm worried that I won't get the mix right and they will all fall apart. Have you had any troubles? |
|
Topics: 17 Posts: 216
|
Created about 1 month ago The flats are recycled black Plexiglas that I was given cut to fit 4x8 sets of soil blocks making each hold 32 blocks. I trimmed them with some redwood strips I had laying around. Once I realized that you need the mix very wet I've never had a problem with them holding together and once the plants fill the block with roots it is very stable. The mix I use is simple I use a large measuring scoop. I put 4 parts peat moss, 2 parts sand, 1 part garden soil, 2 parts compost (screened threw a 1/2" screen). I add a little blood meal, soybean meal & bone meal to give it some minerals and such. Good Luck... Frank |
|
Topics: 25 Posts: 382
|
Created about 1 month ago, Modified about 1 month ago BLOCKING MIX RECIPE * A standard 10-quart bucket is the unit of measurement for the bulk ingredients. A standard cup measure is used for the supplementary ingredients. This recipe makes approximately 2 bushels of mix. Follow the steps in the order given. 3 buckets brown peat (standard peat moss, use a premium grade) ½ cup lime. Mix ingredients together thoroughly. 2 buckets coarse sand or perlite 3 cups base fertilizer (equal part mix blood meal, colloidal phosphate, and greensand). Mix. 1 bucket garden soil 2 buckets well-decomposed compost. Mix ingredients together thoroughly. * From The New Organic Grower, by Eliot Coleman
Moisten the mix soil block making depends on the mix being wet enough, rather than wet like soil mix in traditional flats. The mix should have the consistency of soft putty or wet cement, so that a small amount of water oozes through small openings in the blocker as the blocks are made, and that the individual soil blocks cling to the blocker without falling out prematurely. HOW TO USE THE SOIL BLOCK MAKER Blockers can be used on any flat work surface. Push the prepared soil mix into a mound that is 1¼ to 1½ times deeper than the height of the soil blocker. Push the blocker into the mix until it strikes the work surface. Twist the blocker a quarter-turn and lift. Set the blocker where you plan to grow your seedlings such as a wooden or plastic tray, push down on the handle while raising the blocker. |