Friday, January 20, 2012

The first Soil Blocks & Blogger Issues Update

For all of my fellow blogger buddies, I still can't comment on many of your blogs. Things were better for a short period of time yesterday. I was able to post a comment over at Veggie Pack's blog. Then things went bad again. I even tried using one of our newer computers. Hopefully, this issue will be resolved soon.


Update: I just discovered a way around the Blogger comment issue. I logged onto the internet in Google Chrome and everything works fine!

Now let's talk about some gardening! I finally got around to trying the new soil block maker that "The Italian" bought me for my birthday. I ended up purchasing a soil mixture on-line for my initial blocks. There are a few reasons for this decision. One, the garden centers around here are only open on the weekends right now and most likely won't have what I need in stock to make the blocks. Two, I wanted to see what the consistency of the mixture should be. Lastly, the cost of purchasing all of the ingredients would far out weigh the cost of buying a pre-made mixture for the small amount of initial blocks being made. I am however planning to purchase all of the ingredients for the big planting as this will be the most cost effective way to make a lot of blocks.

The blocks were extremely easy to make. I just combined the mixture with some water, let it sit and made the blocks. For any of you who are going to start making soil blocks this year, you can go here or to Johnny's site to read and watch some good videos on making the blocks.

This isn't the best picture...but, I didn't feel like uncovering them and taking more pics.

After I made them, they were covered with plastic and another tray. I will check on them periodicly to see if they need water. Once they germinate, I will remove the tray to allow light in.

I really think that the blocks will save me a lot of time and space. I really hate everything involved in using plastic pots.

I will do updates and things progress. Now, get making those soil blocks!

24 comments:

  1. I am finding the blocks easy to use too - but am having some challenges in managing the hydration of the blocks. I am either getting them too damp or they are drying out - cannot seem to get that happy balance I need for good germination and plant growth. Definitely a learning curve to them!

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  2. I always cover mine with plastic too when I want them to germinate. I've finished my schedule of when to plant and the first ones say the beginning of February so I've got a little time left. Sadly I'll be gone for half of March. I really hope the weather is warm so I can plant things before I leave, but it is doubtful.

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  3. Laura, I just made these yesterday. We shall see how the hydration goes. That is a big concern of mine. I'm sure that we will figure it out.

    Daphne, These blocks are Arugula, Kale, one variety of lettuce...which are for early cold frame planting. I also started a couple of herbs. My main starts for the garden won't be for awhile.

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  4. They look very good. What's germinating. Do tell!

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  5. Jody, Arugula, Kale & one variety of lettuce for the cold frames and some herbs.

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  6. I am glad to see you figured out a work around on the commenting issue. Blogger has been rolling out some new features lately (like threaded comments) and sometimes the updates can cause some unexpected results.

    Your soil blocks look perfect! Sourcing the soil block components is difficult this time of year. I am glad that you found a mix that works, is less labor intensive, AND less expensive.

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  7. Our garden centres and nurseries stay open all year round although unfortunately many are full of grottoes etc over Christmas. It will be interesting to see how your blocks work

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  8. I am so wanting to start my soil blocks! I have to resist until at least the middle of next month though. I didn't use the blocks last year, but I sure do like them better than using the plastic containers.

    I've found I can leave comments on most blogs after refreshing the page once or twice (Firefox). I don't know about IE, I just get a completely blank white page. Maybe I'll have to give Chrome another try.

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  9. I agree, I hate all this plastic. I cant wait to see how they hold up. Do they retain the block shape, or when you water do they just melt into one big block? Very interesting.

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  10. Thanks Rachel, We shall see how I make out with the first set. I need to get good at it before the big sowing of tomatoes starts!

    Sue, The garden centers here don't have much available at this time of the year.

    Granny, These are my practice blocks. I won't be starting anything else for a few weeks and that will be celery & leeks.

    I read on the forum that you can get in with Chrome and it worked!

    Jane, If the soil blocks are made & kept hydrated correctly, they are supposed to stay in one nice firm piece. The plants do not have transplant shock either.

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  11. very neat! Just bought some strange seed starter from Walmart...your process looks better... :)

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  12. I have to think about that seed blocker..I don't know if the expense of it is worth it for the space I have :o(

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  13. Mrs.P, Since I think this is your first year starting seeds inside, I think it may easiest to learn in pots and trays and then graduate to blocks after you are an expert!!

    Ginny, They are a little pricey. I probably wouldn't have purchased it myself. But, "The Italian" did good and got it for my BD!

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  14. You are giving me the inspiration I need to get started on my blocks. I picked up a soil blacker last summer. Time to pull it out. I've been on Chrome for a while now and will not ever go back the IE. I have not had any issues with blogger at all using Chrome.

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  15. Liisa, Get that soil blocker out and use it! I have to say that I really like Chrome so far. It's much faster then IE.

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  16. Robin, your blocks came out great. I made a square and a round block maker the other day just to see if it is something I really would use. I used my pro mix that I start my seed in and wet it with a mixture of one envelop of gelatin to a pint of hot water. They came out great but I still do things the way I did when I was in the business. I start my seed in flats then transplant them into 6 packs. I have way more than enough 6 packs to grow everything for a year and I just clean them and use them again so the jury is still out on soil blocks unless I could devise a way to make the whole big enough to transplant into it and I don't see that happening.

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  17. Wilderness, Where did you come up with the idea of using gelatin? It sounds like it would work. I just hate cleaning and storing all those pots. Hopefully, the blocks will work out and I won't have to use them any more.

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  18. I was doing some research on making blocks and that was one of the recipes. The gelatin helps to hold the blocks together and it also feeds the seedling. Some use gelatin in the soil mix when transplanting seedling for the purpose of feeding them. Not sure what nutrients it offers but has been used for year.

    I was able to get a big old deep laundry sink on free cycle last spring that I have set up outside. In fact it came with legs on it. I just fill it with water, dump a little bleach in and throw the packs in when I have empties a bunch of them. Fish them out and let the dry. Don't really do much washing but the bleach takes care of the bacteria. My garage is lined with shelves on both sides 2 high and they hold all of the pots and trays.

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  19. I'm going to look into that. I have always used pro mix to start my plants. Last year I must have gotten a bad bag of it. When I used the one bag for transplants all of the plants turned bright green. It was a mess. I had take every plant out of the pots, shake off the soil and re-pot them again with different soil in order to save them.

    I should probably clean some pots in the wash sinks in the basement just in case I need them later.

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  20. Robin here is the information on using the gelatin.

    http://www.ehow.com/how_2050760_make-peat-pellets.html

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  21. Blogger seem to have fixed the issue with using IE to post comments - I've been able to comment on blogs today that i wasn't able to last week.

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  22. Thanks for the update Liz. I've been using Chrome since I discovered that I could post when using it.

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  23. I will be anxiously awaiting your reports on the soil blocks. I've not started using them yet, though I'd like to.

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  24. Dave, I will have to post an update soon. They are easy to make. It's a learning curve on how to water them successfully though.

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