Soil Blocker
This soil blocker (also called a soil block maker) is about to become your new garden best friend!
These tools are used for creating cubes of compost to plant your seeds directly into so you can say goodbye to disposable seedling pots. The Soil Blocker indents a small divot into the top of the soil block, to which you drop a seed. The seed remains uncovered and then it sprouts in place.
Why we love the Soil Blocker:
- Wastes less seed—you sow one seed per block so you know exactly how many germinate and how many you have sown
- Uses less compost—you don’t need to fill a full tray
- Saves time and money —no potting up and no need to buy lots of fragile plastic or compostable pots
- Saves on storage space - you don't have to find a home for all your seedling pots on the off season!
- Plant roots naturally avoid light. When planted in a soil block, seedling roots will avoid the light and circle into the soil block itself. This means that plant roots will naturally air prune themselves and form tighter blocks, but they’ll also have a greater volume of soil to grow in and won’t become rootbound.
What do you get?
1x Soil Block that creates four 2x2inch blocks
4x Standard Dibbles (used for smaller seeds)
4x Long Dibbles (used for larger seeds)
4x Square Dibbles (used for transplanting)
Note: Dibbles could be black or white
How we use our Soil Blocker:
Prepare the trays that you want to sow into with a layer of sand in the bottom, about a cm thick. This helps to maintain moisture and stops your seedlings from drying out.
Put your gloves on, mask up and mix up some compost with water in the watertight tray. It shouldn't be too wet, but when you squeeze a handful, some water should run out.
Take your blocker and press in place the Dibble that is best for your sowing needs. Then take the blocker and press into your compost. Hold it over the tray where you want the blocks to go and depress the handle to release the little blocks.
If you are finding that the compost isn't staying in place when you lift the blocker, try moisten the soil a little more or you can load the blocker up by hand, being sure to squish compost into all the corners of the cubes. Now that your blocker is full of compost, turn it back the right way up and hold it over the tray where you want the blocks to go and depress the handle to release the little blocks.
Repeat the process until you have filled the tray with as many blocks as you need.
Once the blocks are ready, take your gloves off and start planting the seeds. It’s essential to get one seed per block as you want to leave each seedling undistirbed, and replant it as a whole when it is a developed seedling.
Check the instructions on the seed packet. If the instructions are to surface sow, do that. Otherwise, cover with a little bit of compost mist with a spray bottle and cover with a piece of the card if they are to germinate in the dark.
Finally, cover the tray with a cloche lid or tuck into a plastic bag to stop them from drying out.
Place your seed trays in a place that will receive the necessary light according to the instructions on the seed packets. Check every day that they are not drying out, mist accordingly, and wait!
Finally, let them grow on and harden off as normal before planting out.