Soil Blockers

[DrakeMaiden]

Are any of you familiar with soil blockers? I've been starting seeds for at least a decade, but never heard about these nifty tools. Supposedly starting seeds this way gives the little plants an advantage in that they are not subject to transplant shock. Here is a blog tutorial for any of you curious, who may want to avoid using the plastic seed starting cells. Personally, I'm tired of blowing through new plastic seed starting cells every year and cleaning them is a huge pain in the neck (I don't even bother anymore).

 

[me&thegals]

Here's another link: http://urbanhomestead.org/journal/2008/02/27/soil-blocks/

I just heard these mentioned for the first time at an organic grower's meeting I was at. It was just in passing, so this is great timing. I will definitely be looking into these. Egg shells and cartons are great, but this would work really nicely for things you want tremendous quantities of.
Thanks for the tip!

 

[DrakeMaiden]

You're welcome! I ordered the 2" x 2" size, to give it a try. I am really eager to get it, but the catalogue I ordered from was backordered, so I will have to wait and start some of my seeds the old fashioned way. :/

I also like the way you can mass-produce seedlings this way, without having to worry about containing the soil in something. How cool is that?

 

[momofdrew]

Are any of you familiar with soil blockers? I've been starting seeds for at least a decade, but never heard about these nifty tools. Supposedly starting seeds this way gives the little plants an advantage in that they are not subject to transplant shock. Here is a blog tutorial for any of you curious, who may want to avoid using the plastic seed starting cells. Personally, I'm tired of blowing through new plastic seed starting cells every year and cleaning them is a huge pain in the neck (I don't even bother anymore).

I have been using one for years now got it a Johnny's You need to have a tray of some kind to put them on/in to keep the water from traveling but that's about all They really work well

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Thanks for the feedback, momofdrew. I look forward to trying them out!

 

[Ron]

They work great. That's all I use now. No transplant shock, no damage trying to get the roots out of a plastic confinement, etc.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

I'm hoping to only use the soil blockers from now on too, Ron. Do you have more than one size?

 

[me&thegals]

My Johnny's catalog shows sizes from tiny to large, with each one fitting perfectly as a transplant into the size above it!

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Yes, I noticed that too. I was just wondering if larger sizes were as useful as the seed starting size. I figure for now I'll just go with one size and see if I feel I'd like a larger size too. I would guess that 70% of the plants that I grow from seed get transplanted outside before they need to be potted up, although it might be nice for tomatoes . . . .

 

[me&thegals]

oops--double post