donkey herder, fowl friend
Hello #gardening friends, I have a product review (I guess two reviews) for y’all!
I decided to try #soilBlocks this year, and I got the nice metal 3/4” and 1.5” blockers from Johnnys. They’ve worked very well for me.
But the largest size, the one you transplant your 1.5” blocks into, was three times the cost of the medium one!
So when I saw this Fiskars soil blocker for less than $20, I decided to try it out. Verdict: it sucks, especially for up-potting seedlings. I was able to make decent blocks, but there’s only a tiny seed hole at the top. I had to scoop each block out like a pumpkin to wedge the square transplants in, and by that point it was just a mound of nice mud. This tray is mostly flowers which can go out any time they’re big enough, but there’s no way I’m going to put my tomatoes in communal dirt blobs 😅
TLDR: Just keep using your 4” pots.
Link to Johnnys: https://www.johnnyseeds.com/tools-supplies/seed-starting-supplies/soil-blocking/
Link to Fiskars: https://www.fiskars.com/en-us/gardening-and-yard-care/products/food-gardening/soil-block-maker-340120-1001
Soil Block Makers | Soil Blocking Supplies | Johnny's Selected Seeds

Try soil blocking for more vigorous seedlings and to reduce the waste and expense associated with plastic pots. Our soil blocking supplies are 100% guaranteed.

Mar 22, 2024 at 4:57pmWeb
Show threadSand Hill ThicketMar 22, 2024
@donkeyherder 🙏🏼 Thank you for figuring this out and posting! I was going to try it, but wondered about the physics of it all, which you've shed good light on. 😆
Show threaddonkey herder, fowl friendMar 22, 2024
@SandHillThicket you’re so welcome! It seemed like a timely review :)
Show threadHippy SteveMar 22, 2024

@donkeyherder

Slight tangent: I became really impressed with a friend of mine when I saw his worm compost setup.

It was a box just outside his kitchen window, so you just open the window & toss scraps out into it.

But the innovative bit was when he'd start it, he began by filling the bottom entirely with the little square pots.

Then as spring approached, he'd push seeds directly into the compost, wait till they sprouted and got big enough, then just lift the little pots out when they were ready to be moved to the garden.

Show threaddonkey herder, fowl friendMar 22, 2024
@exador23 oh that’s so clever!
The only pre-positioning I’ve thought to do is when I make a “hugelkultur lite” bed, with a lot of unfinished horse manure and shavings, I’ll alternate layers of compost with thin layers of perlite. (Vermiculite? Whatever I’ve got two half-bags of, probably perlite.) Keeps it from getting too gooey, you know.
Show threadLee Fife - old accountMar 22, 2024
@donkeyherder We used soil blocks for quite a few years.
I ended up concluding that it wasn't worth it: I get more bang for my effort by just using little pots and putting my effort elsewhere. It was just too finicky and we had too many failures. The 4" pots just work. And there's always plenty of other garden work awaiting...
Show threadHumToTableMar 23, 2024
@donkeyherder Or in my case, Solo cups. 😁
Show threaddonkey herder, fowl friendMar 23, 2024
@HumToTable couple years ago I sprang for a 50 pack of square 4” pots, nicer plastic than the usual round ones. I used like a third of them to set up my seed storage, such as it is - a shelf with a pot of tomato seed packs, a pot of kale seed packs, etc. But I have plenty left for actual planting! 😂