Soil blocks for growing seed

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.

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

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.

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 

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

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