Soil blocks VS paper pots and other seeding alternatives to plastic pots

Aldo. Apologies for delay. Pinching the tip of beans to prevent blackfly. I presume you refer to pinching the tip of the plant. This one has got me. Quite honestly, I have never heard of this. As I say regarding any of my tips etc. If something garden-wise works for you. Stay with it. Best wishes.

 

Cucumber almost ready for a new home

 

Thanks Mike, I do not really have an opinion one way or the other. I suppose the instructions on the packages refer to pinching the tip of the plant, because allegedly it is softer than the rest, so the blackfly prefers to burrow there. But then, perhaps it is not necessary, so I might just try with some and see if it makes any difference.
For the moment, I planted all my sprouted beans and I cannot see any sign of anything poking out yet..
I wonder if it has something to do with the soil I bought in bulk.. They call it "veg gold" or something to that effect. Supposedly it is mixed with cow dung and compost.
But honestly, it is very dry and full of stones, and water pools on it big time, nothing like the compost I normally use.
But then, with the lockdown my local gardening center is closed, so I did not have alternatives..

 

That looks lovely and in very good shape!
Actually, I am loving all kind of cucurbitaceae (is that how they call them in English?) and similar. With the exception of melons they all grow fast from seed, it is very pleasant to see them getting larger by the day

 

@Aldo I was just showing how easy it is to use the blocks as you simply pick up the seedling and pot it up. No teasing it out of plastic, no paper. No torn roots.

It's not for everyone. As they say, "to each their own"

 

Fair enough, I'll have to try and decide, but I am looking forward to!

 

@Mike Allen

Hello Mike, a question if you can.
I wanted to try and plant my beans like you described, so I soaked them today for a few hours.
Broad beans, borlotto and some mangetout
Most sunk to the bottom, but a few were floating.
Are the floating ones less likely to be viable?

 

@CanadianLori


I received 1 inch and 2 inches, which is perhaps a bit small to plant directly outside, dependently on the plant, but it should save quite some space.
But I am going to test it with peppers, sweetcorn and basil.
Tomorrow I'll see if I can make a few trays sized to fit both my window sills and greenhouse shelves and get busy with the mud

 

Oh @Aldo that looks fantastic. I don't have the 1 inch so I'll be watching to see how you do and then before next winter, perhaps buy one of those too!

Here is a hint that took me years to figure out and you can go for it or not. I cut paper towel to fit in the bottom the container the soil blocks sit in. When watering and down the side (never directly on unless it is a fine fine spray) the paper helps the water soak along the bottom and to get absorbed evenly by all of the blocks. The paper disintegrates about the same time you want to lift the blocks and doesn't pollute the environment.

I can hardly wait to see your seedlings!

 

Thanks for the tip, paper towel sounds less messy, and cheaper too, than vermiculite and similar.
The instructions which came with the kit suggests to leave the blocks with no watering for the first 3 days, and then only spray the blocks, rather that watering, I'll try both ways to see what works.

The 1 inch blocks save a ton of space obviously, but they are so tiny!
Certainly not suitable for beans and other large seeds. Would be fine for tomatoes, basil and similar though, and certainly I could fit a lot in my small propagator.

Just, most plants would not be ready for planting in the 1 inch block, I guess.. So,perhaps good to start up succession cultures while the ones in in bigger blocks grow up and can be be moved to the garden, freeing up space?

Anyway, I think this evening I will move some of my basil seedlings and sprouted beans into the large blocks and see how they fare.

 

I think sprouted beans, at least large ones, are a bit of challenge with the 2 inches blocks.
Even when the square insert fitted, there is no enough space to fit the bean and the root.
So I ended up loading the contraption manually, embedding the bean half way through the filling.
A few blocks came up mishapened, because I did not want to risk damaging the sprout by compressing the soild too much.
I popped a few basil seedlings in too.

But anyway, hopefully it will work




I just finished making a few more trays and tomorrow will be the turn of peppers, pak choi and corn. Also a few random smaller seeds with the 1 inch blocks in the propagator.

 

Looks fab @Aldo ! It gets to be an easy routine. Sow in the block, blocks with big sprouts get potted up or planted out, blocks without get put back in the mix and start again. Easy peasy. Looks like you've got nearly 60 in that space. Good one!

 

@CanadianLori
Yes, it really saves lots of space and it goes quite fast once one gets the hang of it !
Today it was raining all day, so I have been lazy but tomorrow I will prepare some more