Why I gave up on Soil Blocks for Winstrip Trays
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 ก.พ. 2021
- Why we chose to switch our seeding method.
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7 years ago when I first started my garden I looked into soil blocks. It looked to be more work than it was worth so I decided just to use seed starting trays and I'm glad I did! Soil blocks are just more work than I want to spend my time on. As with most things new tech comes out and makes the old way obsolete. And this is true with air pruning trays. They are the future of growing seedlings here today and I don't blame you for not wanting to mess with making soil blocks when you get the same benefits from air prune trays without all the hassle of soil blocks. One day you will look back on this and say " Remember when we actually made soil blocks" Grow on!
There's a specific technique of rocking the blocker back and forth into the mix -to fill it up
Obviously making 4 blocks at a time is slow -but there's blockers that make 35 at a time.
I think you forgot that soilblock are not ment to moved on the regular. Generally you make them seed them and tray them 2 moves and the roots will stop them from falling apart.
I just believe you may have missed the hole transition and method.
Please remember gardening is a slow patient process you'll never get it right the first or second time
We make upwards of 20,000 soil blocks every year for our market garden and have none of the issues you've highlighted in this video. It's an efficient method of starting seeds, offers the transplants a healthy environment in which to grow, and feeling out the moisture ratio to create stable blocks is an incredibly simple process. Obviously, it's important to find what works best for you but for anyone watching this video, please know that blocking is not inherently problematic as this video implies.
Thanks for the video. I was struggling with a decision.
Bite the bullet, pay the money and get the trays :) You wont regret it!
I guess it's not for everyone. I bottom water with soil blocks so they don't fall apart at all. Also it's pretty easy with composting and sifting to make your own perfect soil that's great for soil blocks. I really love that I can simply put the soil block in the ground without taking them out of trays. I agree that it can be an annoyance to water the soil blocks more often. To each his own.
Succinctly stated :)
What mix do you recommend, bottom watering soil blocks is juts adding water to the tray they're in?
2 parts peat moss, 1 part compost, I part perlite
Soil blocks for me I like the way roots can share the same 10x20 flat. Early seed starting there not enough soil in the tray the maintain plant growth, the soil sharing with soil blocks helps that. Thanks for Sharing!
We decided to move away from soil blocks (at least for this year) and try a method that seems more time efficient. Do you have a suggestion for how to produce a lot of soil blocks in a more timely manner? We do like the soil blocks and the benefits but the amount of time we were spending making them was overwhelming.
@@uphillacre1585 as you know getting the potting soil moisture right is the key! I can do a tray in a about five minutes. My problem is the two inch block fit TIGHT in the 10 x 20 trays! I agree it does use lots of mix. The Pro Mix cost $13.50 for 2 cubic feet that expands to 4 cubic feet, I do add Perlite. But there’s so many more roots to the plants.
@@winnie363 thanks for the feedback and ideas! We are going to give it a try!
You should learn how to make soil blocks correctly before commenting. Get the right recipe, which is obvious that you don't, and your blocks won't fall apart. Eliot Coleman can, immediately after making them, toss them up in the and catch them without breaking. Your mix is way too dry. That's why you have to do all those shenanigans with hand packing to make it work.
Elliott Coleman soil blocking demonstration - th-cam.com/video/mqy5dhHH09Y/w-d-xo.html
Both Block Recipes - Eliot Coleman, The New Organic Grower
Block Recipe
1 bucket = 10 quarts (2.5 gallon)
3 buckets Peat Moss
1/2 cup Lime
- Mix -
2 buckets Coarse Sand/Perlite
3 cups Base Fertilizer(Blood Meal/Colloidal Phosphate/Greensand)
- Mix -
1 bucket Soil
2 buckets Compost
- Mix -
Mini-Block Recipe
16 parts Peat Moss 4 gallons (1 gallon)
1/4 part Colloidal Phosphate 1 cup (1/4 cup)
1/4 part Greensand, 1 cup (1/4 cup)
4 parts Compost 1 gallon (1 quart)
Agreed, soil blocks are very much dependent on material compositions and Elliots composition works very well in our hands too. The video is not to bash soil blocks because we’ve had success with them but they just dont fit well with our setup. The trays still provide the benefits of soil blocks without having to make thousands of them which we would need on our end.
I got a 95% germination for zinnia seed with these trays. Never got high germination with soil blocks but I did get lots of gnats and mold
I switched to wind strip trays because soil block requires continuous watering and I had a lot of mold growing plus gnats were everywhere
thank you so much for the information. Quick question - how do you get the seedling blocks out of the trays when planting? Just wondering if you found a preferred method when in the field planting 10+ flats. Just wondering how time-consuming getting the blocks out will be. Have a great a safe day!
It can be a bit of a pain to get the soil blocks out of the tray. Once the roots set, the blocks are quite easy to work with, just needs a little push to jar loose out of tray. I have a wood tray with dowels that align with the underside of the cells that pushes all the plugs out nicely. Then you just throw them wherever they need to go
Do you need a bottom tray to collect any water run off? I thought I remember Conor C saying something about using these Win Strips cut down on the need for a bottom tray but it looks like a bottom tray would be needed to catch the extra runoff? thoughts?
Yes, you would need a bottom tray to catch the runoff which he does offer now. There is holes in between each cell so a good amount of water does pass through. Our setup has trays above other trays so the runoff is minimized this way.
Excellent video thanks
This will be my first year with soil blocks. Thanks for bringing up the problems. My compost is made by red worms.(I help them some) They do the job of sticking it together. I'll see what happens when I mix it with the other ingredients. If i have problems with fungus I'll spray the soil with chamomile and the plants with garlic and dish soap.
In my experience, both soil blocks and trays have fungus problems. Its more of an issue with the environment rather than the soil option. Im sure you’ll have great success with the blocks.
@@uphillacre1585 Thanks for the info and optimism.
Good luck!
Once you plant the winstrip tray, how do you water? Do you bottom water by setting inside another tray, or just spray on top?
Right now, top water. And is a bit of a pain bc of my soil mixture to keep it always moist. Plan is to transition to bottom trays as long the soil mixture does not fall out of the tray
Good explanation, Thanks!
You’re very welcome. Hope its helpful for you!
Not all seed starting mixes are made for soil blocks imo, I've found one is too high in fibre(peat/coconut can't remember now) so it wicks out all the moisture like a ball of lint! Found another mix for potted plants from the same company that works much better and holds moisture. Just need to pack it in really dense so it doesn't easily come apart. I'm also adding a bunch of microbial inoculants to my transplant soil mix, Azotobacter+Azosporillum+Bacillus spp+ Trichoderma fungus. I'm saving the michorryzhal fungi inoculant for in-furrow application when transplanting or direct sowing though. Thanks for sharing
Ive never got into the innoculants so cant speak much to their benefit. Mainly because the setup works so well I dont have a reason to. Unless they grow and produce fruit earlier :)
@@uphillacre1585 Yeah, I'm just trying to start up the biology quickly as the ground's been tilled so far and it's the first year. From the results Dr. Johnson and also John Kempf of AEA are getting, inoculants are the most cost effective inputs, especially when tillage isn't discontinued. Some of these products are formulated as bio fungicides and pesticides, like the Trichoderma Harzianum fungus that attacks insect eggs and pathogenic fungi on the plant as well as colonizing roots; not sure what the insect situation is in your area, if you can get Trichoderma powder might be worth a try
Soil blocks are the very best for seedling health and are absolutely free. But.... They are time consuming in a large operation and require certain skills. But if you are a perfectionist and have acquired patience soil blocks always rule.
I wish I could continue with soil blocks. Did it for years. Just not practical for me at the thousands I would need.
@@uphillacre1585 I know. It is not easy.
We do about 20,000 blocks per year and have found that when you look at the total time cost, from seed to transplant, blocking is more efficient across the process than using 128s or winstrips. Everyone should find what works best in their context. For us, that means using blocks.
When I tried the Winstrip trays, one issue I had was that when I bottom watered them, lots of the cell dropped their soil through the large hole at the bottom. Did you run into this issue and if so how did you resolve it?
Interesting you mentioned that. Because of my soil mix ( high percentage of peat moss), its difficult to effectively saturated the tray cells without having to dump gallons on top repeatedly. Ive wanted bottom trays to capture the water to enable absorption from the bottom up. Havent got there yet but good to know your experience. If thats the case i may only use a bottom tray once the roots have been established. Currently i dont loss much soil from the bottom with my current watering methods.
@@uphillacre1585 Thank you. I've been testing over the past couple of weeks with a new batch. I definitely don't lose soil when I tried top watering but I found (same as you) that top watering to be ineffective at thoroughly saturating the soil and the cells dry out very quickly.
I tried something new and it appears to be working better. Previously, I filled the trays with moist soil mix. This time, I decided to try filling the trays with dry rather than wet soil mix. The idea being that if I fill with a dry mix, then when it's wetted, the soil will expand and fit more tightly in the cell and be less likely to drop through the bottom.
The other thing I tried was to tamp the tray on a hard surface after the first fill of the tray with dry soil to compress the soil a bit.
These two things done in combination has definitely improved things. I'm losing much less soil when bottom watering now and it's saving me alot of time and the plants look much happier. Whereas when top watering I had to water at least twice a day, I can now bottom water probably two times every three days.
Thinking in similar wavelengths I see. Just put on my video topic list the pros and cons of putting soil in seed trays. Not something people would think about as a challenge but always been a nuisance for me because of the soil mix I use. So Ill have to give a think about the different ways to do it and hopefully find something that works!
How did your seedlings do in your Winstrip trays?
Highly recommend. So much easier to work with these trays than individual soil blocks. All seedlings survived transplant too. Will def continue using winstrip trays
Great review!! Thanks!!!
Thank you!
After a season of using the winstrip trays, what do you think? Are they efficient and a healthy transplant starting method? What type of soil mix (components) do you use when filling the trays? Thanks for the initial video review!
Working with both soil blocks and winstrip trays, I still hands down will go with the trays. Its straightforward, more time effiicient, more cost effiicient in the long run ( less soil needed), transplanting was exceptional just like soil blocks, less microbial grow and tbe trays will last for decades because of how sturdy they are. The only negative of the trays is the upfront cost but within a few years, youll easily recoup your money. I have a soil mix video that shows the mix I use abd would recommend watching that.
This is a fantastic video and just what I needed to see. I'm really starting a massive amount of seed starting this year and I'm wanting to best most efficient way. I'm just scrating my head about soil blocking or the trays, and if soil block which one, where to get it? If trays, which one and what kind? This was helpful bc I want to try soil blocking but I also want to try trays. Maybe I will have to invest in both and see which is best for me. I know flower farmers that use a fermont compost mix to start with seeds and soil blocking. She skips the seed starting mix strait to the composted mix with great results. She also uses trays so idk but I best get busy. Thank you for sharing.
For me, I tried everything out there in smaller setups to figure which works best for me. I do not use soil blocks anymore and favor winstrip trays. I also have a video that goes into detail on why that is the case
Soil blocks are too difficult for me due to hand pain😢
Agreed!
what size are the individual holes on the 128 tray
Cell size is 1”
I see that you were not making soil blocks correctly. You did not bother to research a proper recipe. Making blocks with proper mixture is no problem. Best to you with your different system.
I agree with you. The mixture here is not for soil blocks but a modified version thats better for the trays. I also agree that making soil blocks with the right mixture is not a problem at all either. However, the problem is when you have to make thousands of them like i do for my operation. Thats when trays can in handy and are my preference.
It is harder to keep hundreds of blocks correctly wet, it is a daily watering ritual
@MilliePat agreed!
Soil mix is so expensive. You could cover the cost of the Winstrip pretty quickly just with that.
I know of no one who uses soil blocks, that way of seed starting was dying off in the 1980's with seed trays rapidly replacing them.
Seems fairly popular from the variey of TH-camrs but I agree with you, I dont see much in reality. Ill continue to use trays going forward.
I know Jim Kovaleski uses over 25,000 soil blocks a year by hand. I enjoy making soil blocks and have the winstrip trays. I did a comparison side by side last year. And soil blocks made stronger plants for me. I'm doing other side by side tests this year and am not giving up on those winstrips. Good video.......👍🌱
I had great success with both soil blocks and winstrip trays. Its just so much easier with the trays than making blocks. Both are winners nonetheless.
A quick comparison of this video with others on TH-cam shows that both the wrong mixture and technique is being shown. Sorry but your conclusions aren’t valid. Many people are soil blocking and I’ve noted no one else is saying they are struggling in this way. Your soil is too dry, it’s the wrong mix, the soil container is flimsy and at the wrong height for you, etc etc. Like the other commenters I don’t think sufficient research was done prior to this TH-camr using soil blocking himself.
Dude, your argument doesn't hold water. Transplanting out of windstrip tray is so S L O W.........You really make crapy soilblocks too.
I agree my composition is not ideal for soil blocks. That was not the intention since I dont make soil blocks but to illustrate you need to find the right composition to really make soil blocks work. My mixture is more towards what i use in trays. And i would argue making soil blocks is more labor and time intensive than soil blocks. Both processes will need some level of this step. I made a special wood peg setup specifically designed for wjnstrips that pop out all the blocks at once as if they were soil blocks. And since they all have roots in them, sturdy as can be