I love my soil block maker. It was a Christmas gift from my husband a couple of years ago (I made it very clear that I was coveting the ones in the Johnny's catalog.) I have used it for almost all of my seed starting since then, and I can't imagine not using it.
Seed starting with soil blocks requires a few important changes if you've been used to starting your seeds in peat pellets or cell packs. For instance, a soil block mix does best with a good amount of compost in the mix -- at least 1/3. This helps retain moisture well and gives the mix a little extra "body" to help the blocks stay together. When you are forming your blocks, you'll want your mix to be almost sopping wet -- this helps the blocks form nicely and release from the block maker more easily.
But the chan...
So, I promised you my recipe for a seed starting mix that works well for making soil blocks. Well, I'll do better than that: here's a seed starting mix recipe that's perfect, whether you're starting in soil blocks, flats, or cell packs.
A few notes about my recipe: it is based very, very loosely on Eliot Coleman's seed starting mix, which he outlined in "The New Organic Grower." His is much more involved, but I simplified it a bit and still managed to keep the most important ingredients. I mention in the article that you can use peat or coir, but coir is much more environmentally friendly (peat bogs are completely destroyed when peat is harves...
I mentioned earlier in the week that we'd be talking more about soil block makers for seed starting. I love my block maker, which I received as a gift after numerous hints and references to the Johnny's catalog. I also mentioned that I never would have bought it myself, being kind of a tightwad by nature. So I got it as a gift, and everyone's happy.
Except that I got the two inch block maker, and it would be really nice to be able to plant up into the four-inch blocks, and holy cow -- look at the price of those larger soil block makers!
I figured I couldn't be the only one squeamish about paying upwards of a hundred bucks(!) for a soil bl...
There they are. Aren't they beautiful? Don't they just scream "Summer!"? I sowed my tomato seeds in soil blocks last Saturday, and recorded my first sprout of the 2010 season on Sunday, March 14th. Here's what I planted this year:
- Roma (4 plants)
- Polish Linguisa (4 plants)
- ...
If you're trying to avoid peat pots and pellets due to the negative impact peat harvesting has on the ecosystem (often destroying entire peat bogs in the process) then you may want to try growing your seedlings in pots made from cardboard toilet paper rolls.
Toilet paper rolls have all of the advantages of pet pots or pellets without the negative impact (in fact, you're doing a good thing by putting those cardboard rolls to use rather than throwing them in the trash!). They hold enough seed starting medium to get your plants off to a good start, decompose easily once planted, and can serve double-duty as cutworm collars if you have that pa...
If you haven't had to deal with damping off at least once or twice in your seed starting experience, you are a very lucky gardener. If you have, then you know the feeling of helplessness of seeing your teeny, tiny seedlings keeled over onto the soil. It is not a fun gardening experience!
It's been several years since I've had problems with damping off (knock on wood). There are several things you can do to avoid the problem in the first place. Things like using sterile soil, clean containers, and avoiding overwatering are all very helpful in preventing damping off.
Another great option for preventing damping off is to make up some anti-fungal teas. Misting your seedlings, as well as the surface of the soil, with either chamomile or stinging nettle tea, is a great prevent...
