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The season is starting with a bang! We are pulling out the mini soil blocker to grow a thousands of early seedlings. We share why we dislike the mini blocker (and why we use it anyways). And then, the party keeps going, when we pull out our hoard of ranunculus! And we experiment with the ranunculus that we saved from last year – will they grow again? And if they do – can you imagine how many ranunculus we can have in the future?
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Ian and Serina of YOU CANT EAT THE GRASS feel that every small change can make a big difference to the world we live in. Every garden planted leads to a better future. We hope to inspire and motivate others to make positive changes in their lives by sharing our journey towards greater sustainability as we build our family farm. It’s hard work to build a life worth living, and completely worth it!
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Lots of comments about the mini soil blocker and my bad technique, so I'll leave a bunch of notes here.
First – I don't actually like the mini soil blocker. I know lot of people swear by it, and it's the only thing they grow in, so there is lots of great info online about how they are great. I'm just adding my personal "meh" to the conversation.
I've owned the mini blocker for many years, because I accidentally bought it thinking I was buying a larger size. For veggies, I find it almost completely useless – there are very few things I would waste my time starting in such a small amount of soil, and then needing to pot them up after a week. But, I can see the use for flowers, with so many being slow growing, and therefore able to start in smaller space, and that is why I used the mini blocker in this video.
I like larger soil blocks. I use both the 1.5 inch blocks and the 2 inch blocks, and find them fairly simple to create. But the mini is different – with it being so small, if it doesn't fill completely, the blocks end up being such small amounts of dirt, that it seems like there is no point. I've tried many different techniques for just pressing the blocker down into the wet dirt, and no matter what, it always leads to loose blocks on the outside edges which can start to dissolve when watering. I'm sure if I kept at it, eventually I could perfect the technique – but like I said, I don't actually like the minis, and I don't actually need to use them all that often, so for now, I'm sticking with finger packing the few I do use, because then they are at least even and serve my purpose. It takes about 10 minutes to do a large tray this way.
Reasons I dislike the mini blocker
1) The blocks are too small – I'd rather just use a 128 tray to start, or to broadcast seeds on open trays or channel trays, and then prick them out into individual cells once they grow on.
2)They dry out too fast. I place the blocks quite close together so that they can hold some moisture into the blocks. But the speed that they dry out is crazy. I know I could hold some moisture in by using a dome, but I hate domes, so I'm not going there, lol.
3) They grow algae. I almost never get algae on my seedlings, but I almost always get it on the mini soil blocks. I think it has to do with over watering them (you know, because they are always drying out so fast) but I also don't like them enough to figure it out.
Reasons I like them
1) They don't take up a lot of space. But, I also have space, so this point doesn't tip any scales for me here on the farm.
2) They are very easy to transplant. I have 200 plastic trays, and I rarely use them because I hate pulling out the mini plugs. I only grow plants I can abuse in those trays, and I literally empty them by turning the trays upside down and smashing them against the ground over and over again (not recommended). The grown out soil blocks are much easier to handle.
There are incredible ways to use the mini soil blocker, and if you are looking to get inspired, I highly recommend checking out Lisa Marie Ziegler, because she uses it with mind blowing success. But, it also depends on your system, your personal growing struggles, and your equipment.
Mini soil blocks are never going to play a leading role on our farm. Most items that other farmers mini soil block for we will actually be direct seeding. And, we don't have the same space constraints that other small flower farmers have, that make it so mini soil blocks solve major problems for us. Finally, because we have invested into veggie growing infrastructure, we have different efficiency tools that make it so soil blocks have a limited role. I'll alway do a few, but one of the fun things about sharing our farm on YouTube is being able to show different systems, and different ways that a farm can run. There is no right or wrong way.
I like the idea of using the lids for soil blocking.
When do you pull your ranunculus from the bed to save the corms (sp?)?
Could you save tulip bulbs each year as well?
Thank you!!!
Totally liking the idea of using the Rubbermaid container lids
Your cut flowers are beautiful! I get hard work. Your fortunate to be able to work as a team. Great blooms for you! The videos are very enjoyable and full of great content! Thank you!
It’s okay that you don’t like using the mini soil blocker. Not everyone has to do things the same way to get to the same end point. Do whatever works best for you!
I was wondering if you sieved the mix first whether it was easier to fill the blocker.
I looked at buying a soil blocker and watching you fill it really put me off, since they are quite pricy. There is a great video How to Make Soil Blocks | I Made a Wooden Soil Block Tray | Spring 2021 which give a do it yourself soil block maker. I am going to experiment with putting potting mix into a tray and simply using some cardboard to make plugs.
Love the channel and you both. But omg, the soil blocking had me pulling my hair out. Yall where on your soap box….I thought you'd never jump off!!!
Put the soil on one of your trays, and jam the soilblock into the soilpile, very easy
What did You sow?
For starting small seeds I prefer dense (broadcast) planting in a shallow tray and pricking them out for re-potting to the mini soil blocker. Being an old fart, I remember farmers used blocks with their garden soil because that was all they had. Now it's become a "trend" to get you to buy something. Also, I spied a Little Caesars pizza box. Didn't know they were in Canada ?!?! Love their deep dish with veggie topping!!!
Hey Serena, when do you start your dianthus? Commenting from NS and this year will be my first year growing dianthus from seed.
Great Video ! I'm designing your seed starting area and curious what your sink drains into since you have dirt going into the drain. Does it drain into just outside or septic or what?
What about using the plug trays for the seedlings but using a plug popper to get the plants out? Johnny’s has one. Soil blocking the tiny ones looks painfully slow! Also Bootstrap farmer has some up to 200 cells.
Hello
And this, my dear professionals, is why I am happy to just buy petunia seedlings. I do prestart tons of dwarf marigolds and alyssum and I love my perennials.
All of this time spent working hard will pay off with beautiful flowers. Happy to hear you still have fun with the work aspect of it.
Good to know that I'm not the only one eagerly staring at soil on a daily basis!
Our flower seeds germinated really well and then several of them died probably 50 percent. I notice your grow lights are higher above your plants than ours. Is there a certain height the grow lights need to be above the plants and is the height different for vegetables and flowers?
Spring is coming! And the ball starts rolling. Soon the farm will come alive. I'm very impressed with ALL that ranunculus! Many viewers will be very envious…I am not (well, maybe a little) cuz I can not grow ranunculus in SW FL.
Thank you for video, all the best guys.
I'm excited to start my ranunculus! Inspiring video!
One of the things I LOVE about your channel is that you don't just talk about sustainability, you LIVE it. So I love that you are using those tote lids. I do too! And they'll last forever. So you don't ever have to buy a replacement. I do not use mini soil blockers (or any soil blockers). So I don't have an opinion on those. I mass sow in plastic mushroom and spinach tubs. Something you obvs cannot do on your scale. And the paper pots I learned from you gave my warm up sketches on newsprint a new life, rather than going straight into the trash. Now they go into the soil. 🙂 You're a great example. Thank you!
You're the experts: I've decided to start my new perennial flowers inside instead of scattering them in the gardens (I prefer easy 🙂 From Zone 7.
I finally just tried my first soil blocking! Love it. Thanks for sharing your experiences here with us, you've inspired me to start a YouTube channel 🙂
No criticism here, it looked painful with the tiny blocks. The trick to using them with ease is all about the soil. Equal parts sifted peat and sifted compost, get it wet, and press the blocker into the soil. It’s lightning fast actually but I can see that it would be incredibly difficult with soil that’s full of sticks and large pieces.