Starting Seeds For Garden

Soil Blocks for Seed Startingposted on 2/20/2013

https://www.pick-a-pepper.com/members.php#editpanel

Here is what you need to get started:

Soil (see recipe below)

Block maker.  You can make this easily with a few tools, and household items (directions below).

Something to hold your soil blocks in. These could be anything from shallow wooden crates, those clear plastic boxes that lettuce comes in, seed flats, or whatever else works.

Making the Block Maker:

You need: 

For most projects a small yogurt cup and lid will work great. This will be used to make the actual block. Other mold materials could be PVC pipe, or other containers.

8 inch eye bolt, 3/8 inch wide.

2 bolts, each 3/8 inch.  

2 washers

Drill with 3/8 inch bit.

Hacksaw

To make the blocker:

With a hacksaw cut the bottom off of your yogurt container about 1/4 inch from the bottom. The part that you cut off will become the "plunger" that pushes the soil block out of the mold.

Seed Block Soil Recipe (from VelaCreations):

Eliot Coleman's Organic Recipe
30 units peat
1/8 unit lime or ½ unit wood ashes, 
20 units coarse sand or perlite
3/4 unit organic fertilizer (equal parts blood meal, colloidal phosphate and greensand)
10 units good garden soil
20 units well-aged compost

Sift all ingredients before mixing.  Mix the peat and lime or wood ash first. Mix the sand or perlite with the fertilizer.  Then mix everything together.

You can also use a commercial seed starter.

Thoroughly wet the soil mixture before getting started with making the blocks.  You want it to be nice and wet so that the it will easily mold into the blocker and be released into the appropriate shape.  Think-sandcastles.

Jab the block mold (yogurt container) into the wet soil mixture.

Place the filled mold over the spot you want to release it (tray, crate, or whatever).

Use the "plunger" and push the soil out of the mold, into place.

Place the soil blocks fairly close together, about 1/4 inch or so.  

Place a seed or two in each center depression and cover with soil.

Water gently with a fine mist so that you don't flood the blocks and flatten them.