Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: bobbyt on January 05, 2021, 16:06
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Hi Everyone. Anyone had any experience of using compressed soil blocks made with the tool. Thinking of trying it this year instead of using pots. If so, any advice on the soil mix to use so it stays together.
There are loads of 'recipes' on line, most are peat free, but confused about which to use. One I saw, is 3 parts coco coir (I fancy trying this as well), 1 part vermiculite, 2 parts compost, and a dash of fish, blood and bone. Then another was 3 parts compost, 1 part soil, 2 parts vermiculite and 2 parts coco coir, plus water of course for both. So a bit confused, hence needed to know if anyone has first hand experience at all. Appreciate any advice. Thanks.
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Hi Bobbyt
I’ve never tried soil blocks, for the confusion/art you talk about.
I have grown peat free for the last couple of years. I find coir has got quite expensive unless you are just buying the tiny plugs.
Do you have the space to be buying all the ingredients to make your own mix?
I have been using Westland new horizon compost for seeds and have found this ok, it has a fine fibrous texture and contains coir. I do find that hungry seedlings like squash need a little feeding before they are ready to plant out. So it may work in a block press.
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Hello I know the blocks you a talking about 1icn x1inch for lettuce cauliflower, cabbage sprouts ,onions 2imchx2inch for cucumbers courgettes 3inchx3 inch for tomatoes I use to make 12,000 -14000 an hour with an auto blocker,we used a 60 /40 mix sedge peat sphagnum peat blended with 1/2 hundred weight of blood fish and bone to the ton through the shredder wetter,soil only dries out to quick and wont let roots penetrate a John innes with blend would work but it's the water holding properties that's needed jezza
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Thanks Ema and Jezza, I found coir blocks for £3.50 each which makes about 9 litres per block, I'm not mass producing - probably use 2 x blocks and mix with the seed compost and vermiculite, plus some garden soil as well in the recipe I mentioned with fish, blood and bone for nutrients. I'll only need a plastic container and a soil sieve to mix them up in, and just use a bucket to activate the coir, so not a lot of space required really.
I've since found a couple of Youtube videos and looks like the mix works quite well from their experience. I can always experiment between now and planting time to see if the blocks are ok. Thanks for the replies.
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Hi Bobbyt,
I am trying soil blocks seriously for the first time this year. I did give it a try over 30 rears ago when Levington's produced a single soil blocker made from moulded plastic. They also produced a 'special' blocking compost, that was horrendously expensive. I tried making a few blocks of my own, but I was not overly successful. The mix is really just a combination of growing medium and something to hold the block together. The ratios banded about on the web you refer to sound as if they will work. The secret is to add plenty of water, much wetter than you would think. I am not intending to use the system for all my sowing as I am a great believer in finding the best approach for each crop. I am also using both the small (20mm) blocks and the larger (50mm) blocks that can be used to 'pot-on' the smaller blocks.
Experiment with the compost mixes for structure first, once you have that right, then decide what nutrients you want to add if any. I will only be using the smaller blocks to germinate seed, the larger, growing-on blocks will have fertiliser/minerals added as required by the specific crop being grown.
I hope this helps, Ralph.
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Thanks Ralph, that is helpful. I'll try some soil mixes in the next couple of weeks, am waiting until the temperature gets away from freezing point to save my hands being numb !
I have the 4 x 50mm soil blocker. I'll try different levels of 'wetness' and mixture ratios, then leave and check after a while to see if they hold together. I intend using these for most of my seedlings to see how it goes. Cheers. Rob
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I'm pleased you mentioned this topic because when i was tidying out my tool shed i found my old block maker I've had that for years and i think as I've got some well rotted horse manure i can make a mix up with peat or compost that mite bind together to make a block anyway its worth a try
I'm going to take a look on youtube for a bit more info also there must be a binding agent that one can get for making these blocks and yes i used blocking compost some years ago but it was expensive and i haven't seen any for sale in any garden centres
so it looks like the old chestnut trial and error :D
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I'm pleased you mentioned this topic because when i was tidying out my tool shed i found my old block maker I've had that for years and i think as I've got some well rotted horse manure i can make a mix up with peat or compost that mite bind together to make a block anyway its worth a try
The secret seems to be adding far more water than you would think to a mixture of fibrous material mixed with loam and some drainage/aeration medium. I am still experimenting at the moment, but when I have something I am happy with... and if it ever stops raining, I will post some pictures and my recipe.
Ralph.
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yes i would be interested if you can crack this Ralph and i will do the same when i start making my blocks if it works should we patent it :lol:
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yes i would be interested if you can crack this Ralph and i will do the same when i start making my blocks if it works should we patent it :lol:
Now, there's a thought. All we need is a snappy name, and we could make a fortune :D
Ralph 8)
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Hello theres no binding agent for the compost blocks when I made them with the auto blocker I had 40 tons of sedge sphagnum moss peat it went through a wetting machine a constant screw auger with a water supply the compost had to be wet enough to hold to gether when compressed but not to wet that sprayed water every were when the forming press compressed it if it was to wet it went back through with out the water on till it was right ,8 tatty sippet full of compost went into the shredder then into the the wetter with the water on at 5 gallons to 8 fork fulls,the barrow held 8 fork fulls of wetted compost that took some lifting,the auto blocker had to have a constant barrow load every 7 minutes the compost had to be prepared at 3 tons ahead of the auto blocker producing 166 blocks a minute ,10000 an hour of 1 inch 1inch blocks, jezza
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that's some blocks Jezza and from what your saying its compaction that keeps the blocks together and was the blocks sowed with an automatic seed sower?
what did you sow in the blocks?
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Hello the seed was sown with an auti seeder a hopper that had small brushes fixed on a bar that swept the seed through a small hole if the seed was pelleted un pelleted was hand sown by 2 people with a pair of tweezers,it was lettuce cabbage cauliflower spring onions, leeks (slightly less compacted blocks) tomatoes and cucumber was sown by hand in 3inch x 3 inch blocks we had an air seeder but it couldn't cope with the amount we needed to sow jezza
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Bit warmer today - 9 deg - so decided to try out the new soil blocker. Never used one before, but looked at advice on here and Youtube.
So, the soil mix I tried was 3 parts coco coir (bought some 9ltr blocks to try), 2 parts seed compost - which I sieved first - I was surprised how many solid big lumps were in there, thought seed compost was supposed to be fine ! 1 part vermiculite - probably should've bought smaller size, but it seemed ok - and one part soil (shop bought bag). Mixed it up into quite a wet mix, and seems to work ok. I have attached a pic to see. I plan to put them on top of a layer of wetted cardboard in a seed tray. When I want to use them for real, I will add a nutrient as well to the mix. Not sure what will happen after a few days, the plan is, as long as they are kept damp, they should hold together until the roots do that job.
I did pick them up and move them just to see if I could, and they didn't fall apart, so good result I think. Can anyone see any flaws in my plan at the moment? I'm tempted to try a few seeds in them, but may be a bit cold yet for anything to germinate. I have a heater mat coming soon, so maybe leek seeds in the blocks may work then in the greenhouse?
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that's my only concern if the blocks fall apart then I'm wasting my time blocking so I'm hoping my mix will work I'm not a coir user so i can't comment on that so its a suck it and see thing if all of us who are going to do blocks could give a feed back if there working for you?
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Yep will do Rowland Wells, will report back, I know I'm using coir, but in research I did, it seems you get similar holding together properties with peat.
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...I plan to put them on top of a layer of wetted cardboard in a seed tray.
Sound good so far. I might give mine a go today if it stays dry (remote chance!) The only thing I would say is would not put them on wet card as the roots will migrate into it and make the blocks impossible to pick up without damaging the roots. The great advantage with blocks is the roots will air-prune and not become root bound. I plan to try my larger (50mm) blocks in those mushroom trays that come from the local veg shop (they just throw them away and are pleased to get rid of them) as they have a grid (mesh?) bottom. To water them the whole tray can be stood in a gravel tray with covering of water just deep enough to cover the bottom 10mm or so of the blocks, and removed once wet. The smaller 20mm blocks I plan to stand on a flat plastic boot-tray until they are ready to insert into the 50mm blocks. They can be watered with a fine plant spray.
All theory at the moment but I will post my results as soon as I have something to show.
Ralph.
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Great stuff Ralph, I see what you're saying, I'll bin the cardboard idea then I think, and just spray them, or get hold of some mesh bottomed trays as suggested. Rob.
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As I said, it is all theory at the moment I also have some wire mesh I am thinking I might line the mushroom trays with... I will let you know when I stop thinking about it and actually do something.
I can over-think it sometimes :nowink:
Ralph.
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talking about soil blocks can you sow swede and parsnip seed in soil blocks ? and although its recommended to sow swede in May can you sow swede before May ?
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Hi Ralph,
Ref the mesh trays you mentioned. I've attached a pic of meshed trays on Amazon, would they be suitable? Would they need to be raised from the bench on blocks or something and not placed on a flat surface? What do you think?
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Hello try mustard and cress seed or a few lettuce at first to see if the compost mix is correct keeping the blocks damp but not wet on cardboard or capillary matting should work cover the sown blocks with a piece of polystyrene germination will be in a couple of days jezza
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Hi Ralph,
Ref the mesh trays you mentioned. I've attached a pic of meshed trays on Amazon, would they be suitable? Would they need to be raised from the bench on blocks or something and not placed on a flat surface? What do you think?
Bob, They look as if they would do the job. Sitting on that tray, I think there would be enough space underneath without worrying about propping it up. The important thing is not to stand them on something porous that the plants can root into.
Ralph.
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Great, thanks Ralph, I'll go and order them. Lately the delivery man is getting to know us quite well with all the online stuff we're ordering!
Good idea Jezza, about trying a few lettuce first, I'll give it a go.
Rob
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Great, thanks Ralph, I'll go and order them. Lately the delivery man is getting to know us quite well with all the online stuff we're ordering!
Rob
Ops!... Hi Rob :nowink:
We have just spent an hour or so working out what cardboard to recycle and what to make compost out of from all the orders we have made over the past few months... Amazon card seems to be the best for composting. We have a prime account so the card arrives quicker and mulches down faster :D
Ralph
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Ok, update on soil blocks I made, seem to hold together well so far. Sowed some All Year Round Lettuce seed in a few of them as an experiment using a propagator tray on a heat mat I bought.
Success, germinated in 4-5 days and looking ok. Used lettuce seed as they are quite hardy and germinate easily in my cold greenhouse, have now removed from heat and uncovered to see if they grow on ok. Only sprayed them lightly to keep moist, but they have never looked as though they are going to fall apart, but obviously they won't dry out in this weather anyway. Can lift the blocks ok too - fairly solid, so I think the mix is good enough. So going forward I think I can use this mix to start most of my seeds.
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Good stuff Rob. It sounds as if you are on your way. I still have to get going on ours as we are obsessed with sowing some early stuff (like chillies and aubergines) at the moment. On top of that the weather is not great here, at the moment, with some of the coldest temperatures we have had in the soft south for years. We are also knee-deep in snow (if you are a robin!).
Brassicas are next on the list, as soon as we can get outside to make some blocking mix that is not frozen!
I will post an update as soon as we do.
Ralph.
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First batch of soil blocks ready to sow veg seeds, turned out quite well I thought. Already trialled a few lettuce and leeks, so should be fine. Just need to pop the seeds in the indents and cover with vermiculite or compost or can leave smaller seeds uncovered.
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First batch of soil blocks ready to sow veg seeds, turned out quite well I thought...
They look good to me Rob. What mix did you go for in the end?
Ralph.
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Soil Block success ! Took some pics of seedlings growing in the blocks, there's psb, stem broccoli, leeks, lettuce, tomatoes, cabbage, and sprouts. Used this mix - 3 parts coco coir, 1 part vermiculite, 2 parts seed compost, 1 part soil and I sieved the compost first.
Used a heat mat/heated propagator to germinate in my unheated greenhouse, then removed into meshed trays. Found it much less hassle and easy to water using a gravel tray or spray. All holding together well. People from my allotment all interested too, a couple of them are trying it out as well. I'd already planted some of the lettuce out previously, and its doing well.