It’s seed sowing time and we thought we’d try something besides the typical seed-starting trays, newspaper pots or cow pots. Soil blocks are, essentially, compressed planting mix that do not require a vessel in which to sit. Commercially available soil blockers are great, but they’re pricey for a small-scale gardener. With soil blocks, once the seed has germinated and a root system has been established, you simply make a larger soil block with a divot that matches the smaller block and “pot up”. Potting up eliminates much of the shock a plant experiences when it’s transplanted.

Our point here is not to come up with the ultimate soil block maker, but to show that DIY means figuring out what works for you without needing to buy a fancy gadget. So, after digging around in the recycling bin, we tried making soil blocks using takeout containers and a ballpoint pen. (Photo instructions here)

Keep in mind that these round blocks can dry out very quickly, so it’s important to mist them daily and bottom water them regularly. The advantage of square soil blocks is that you can align them squarely (duh) and maintain the moisture content a bit better. So, we tried again using an ice cube tray and food storage containers. The ice cube tray worked well for a one-seed mini soil block and the larger container for “potting up”. (Photo instructions here.)

Do you have any thoughts? Are our designs offensive to logic and common sense? Do you have any ideas for DIY gardening tools? Let us know!

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Tags: DIY, seeds, soil blocks, sowing, transplanting

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 at 9:00 am and is filed under DIY Projects, Growing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.