Homemade Soil Blocker Maker (free - DIY)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ต.ค. 2024
- Updated version: • DIY Soil Block Maker w...
Watch this video to learn how to make your own homemade soil block makers, for free, with stuff from around your house. Also learn how to use a cloth diaper for a capillary mat for an easy watering system.
Purchase pre-made soil blockers on Amazon: amzn.to/2krk9SS
For Eliot Coleman's soil block recipe, visit web.archive.org...
Some links may be affiliate links - I may receive a small percentage of any purchase. This is one way you can help support our TH-cam efforts.
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I have watched a lot of videos on soil blocking trying to figure out the method that makes the most sense for me and this was by far the best and shows that you don't need fancy stuff to have fancy results. 7 years later you're the best OP
Thank you! I made an updated version here: th-cam.com/video/fP77c6q-_Bo/w-d-xo.html
This is amazing! I especially appreciate how you use low cost/recycled materials to complete your soil block maker
Thank you!
Good job recreating soil blocks as DIY and showing and explaining to the rest of us. Thank you for taking the time to share.
I'm so happy to see this: it is hard to find soil blockers in NZ and I'd rather make my own and recycle! Thanks.
I am in Nz too and never even realised you could make them yourself. I was about to fall for an order on Ali express. Will try this first!
WOW just saved me a hundred bucks of buying this stuff. Well done!
All of that is awesome!!I especially like the way the small one fits in the middle when it time to transplant.
I like it. I also like the way you have the diaper placed.I was wondering how you were going to water your plants.
The plants will continuously receive water as needed,without over watering.
Great idea.
Thank you for sharing.
I like it and I even like the fact more.That you came up with this ten years ago and it's still better than some of the homemade ones i've seen
I'm from the future thank you for passing on knowledge!
Thanks for the video! I might try some different materials, but your design is much easier to make than what I was contemplating.
Well done. The very best homemade Soil Blocker I have seen , Greetings from the UK. Many thanks
WOW! Thank you so much for showing us how to make and use a soil blocker. I have all the things I need to make these for myself so will be doing that in the next day or two. I had tried to order a large soil blocker from my favourite online store but they were not available. So, I went to another site but unfortunately they would be shipped from China and couldn't be expected to arrive until the end of May, way too late. I am so happy and can hardly wait to get going, thanks again. Take care and stay safe, Sandie from Ontario Canada.
Thank you for sharing this! I wanted to prevent purchasing plastic seed starting supplies and went looking for ideas! So glad I found your channel! And for the good reminder of the “magic” of water wicking!
Simple effective cheap and rather clever. Solid presentation and video skills. Bravo
Great video, thank you! I think for the smaller one I'm going to try using a pill bottle, no seam, so I'm hoping no issues with expansion. Again, thanks for sharing.
Perfect and simple. Can’t beat that. Thanks for the pointer.
Great idea, I'll think about it to see if I can come up with the same thing but less complicated in construction. It doesn't matter what shape the soil blocks are I'm sure I much have something lying around I can use. What really impressed me and gave me a duh moment was the diaper. Any cotton material will work, old towels etc. Thanks
creek house You're welcome!
Yeah I wish I'd seen this before buying a commercial mat!! Dang! But happy to save money on blockers!
Smart guy! Probably gonna build something just like what you've done here. Thanks for the video.
Great vid mate. you've just saved me $50+
That's what TH-cam should be all about!
A-bloody-men
That and revolting against the system.
Nice job! Thanks for the Eliot Coleman link too. Just what I need for my new Eliot Coleman styled greenhouse.
Jazz Gardner You're welcome!
Very smart!!! This is an idea I will definately use on my homestead! Thanks so very much. Vivian Ann on the side of the mountain in NE Tennessee
love your system .. im trying it .. i have my little seedlings already growing
chopper100 Great, glad to hear that!
Oh my God. So simple and, yet, so accurate. I love the diaper wicking up the perfect amount of water. I'm trying to decide whether to spend $30 or $60 bucks to get two sets of complementary seed blockers - they do look really easy to use and make 4 blocks at once - or do something like this for free. On the other hand, how slick is this shit and it costs about $0. You could literally make it out of trash. What's the story on a diaper? Would a towel work? I don't have any diapers.
I think yours is unique and very well designed in that you put soil in and then compress it. This wasn't an obvious feature (or perhaps wasn't one at all) of the store-bought kind.
Diapers and baby food jars. You must have some little kids. Thanks for the vid!
Awesome video! I was just about to buy a store bought soil block maker.
Thks for saving me $$$. 😃
Great ideas thank you :) I managed to do the small one using a plastic bottle rolled up with duct tape and an old handle but struggled with the bigger one mainly cause Im crap at cutting wood, so Im going to try making a cement one will let you know if it works
You are amazing, I was searching for a diy soil blocker and I will give this a try. Thank you and god bless👏👏👏😘
Very nice homemade system!
Thanks for sharing! Great video! Can't wait to try.
Thank you so much for kindly sharing this with us. You are really quite innovative.
How did I never know about this! Genius
👍 thanks, this is going to help me a lot. God bless you for sharing
Great ideas for improvising your own blocks especially if you don’t need to make a lot of blocks.
Amazing!! Thank you for sharing your knowledge!!❤❤
Thank you Matthew. You just saved me well over $100.
You're welcome! Glad it worked for you.
Thanks a million for this , i didnt have any dowel, but i came across an old paint roller and handle in the house i am going to cut , shave , glue and use for the exact same purpose. .
Awesome, very creative. thank you for sharing.
Wow, how's that for recycling and reusing things around the home.
really great idea, and these items truly are laying around in practically any house. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you. From lover Garden in Brazil
The link to the soil mixture recipe does not link to an active page, but another YT page exists. Thanks for the great idea for making the blocks - I will try this!
Love this so much!. Thank you!
Claudia R. You're welcome!
I love this idea, very cool!
Great system, and tutorial
Thank you so much for sharing this!!
I made six of the closet rod type with the sofa can as demonstrated. The wood soaked up some of the moisture from the soil then swelled making it fit so tight that the soil would not eject. Maybe I'll oil the wood rod once it dries out. I also found that when I was compacting the soul into the blocker that soil got inside of the overlapping can causing the top rim to enlarge making it impossible for the wood of to push through. Using a couple of washers under the screw head makes a better indention. A few tweaks and this will be a fun blocker to use. The four inch one had similar problems. Try wrapping the wood rod with something slick or oiling it so it slides easily out of the soil block. It also swells when wet.
PVC pipe builds it better ;)
cottontailquilts
would using a drier mix be better?
I made a micro square one and had problems with the wooden part swelling, too.
I had made the piston part out of an old painted piece of redwood, about 3/4" square cross section, 6inch long. I made the outer sleeve out of some plastic -- I think it was just a piece cut from a plastic disposable container (didn't think of an aluminum can). I wrapped the plastic around the piston and taped with duct tape. Instead of a screw to make the seed planting recess, I pinned in a little bead I had.
The thing is I want to fix the moisture-swelling problem, but I also want to make a tool that makes 16 or 25 or more micro ones at a time. I'm thinking of some pvc trim scraps to make the grid of micro blocks. And a mini ice cube tray for the form. The silicone ones, you could turn over and just pop the soil blocks out. Actually, maybe no piston needed with a silicone tray.
Thanks for the video, showing us how you did it. Would like an update on how it held up and whether you stayed with it over time.
awesome job! i'm going to do what you did. thank you for sharing!
This is a neat idea, thanks for sharing.
Can you do a follow up on the best soil mix and watering method for these?
TH-cam is so full of shizzle,
However, sometimes you find a gem that is exactly what your looking for x
Cool system! thanks for sharing
experimental with principles of good farming practice, far more efficient, thank you for sharing,
your made of what i am made of, its magical, its life
This is fantastic- thank you so much!
This is really good. Very functional. I will ask my husband to construct one for me! Thank you!
MJ Inks You're welcome!
That's so brilliant... such an intelligent method and diy solution...thanks for sharing...I'm going to give it a go :)
YOU ARE AWESOME!! thanks so much for the brillant idea
GlamorousEarthGirl You're welcome!
very nice, was it a knife like the one you showed or actually that knife that you used to make this soil blocker?
Genius! I will definitely be doing this today and tomorrow! 👩🏼🌾🌱🍅🌶🥦
this is awesome! I will be doing this. genius!
Alright, it's almost seven years later; do you still use this method, have you made any improvements, or did you end up trashing it altogether?
I used this a couple years, then started using only pots. Now I don’t have enough pots, so last year I made an updated version: m.th-cam.com/video/fP77c6q-_Bo/w-d-xo.html
Great idea. Will be trying this soon.
What a great idea!
thanks Robert that was great very nice idea .
Nice idea. Why don't you cut the closet rod much longer so you can just push the soil out and you won't have to turn it over?
Thanks dude! Great tool
Interesting. Do you ever worry about the soil being too compacted for plants that prefer looser soil?
I think as he is using a mixture of compost and other growing medium, it will not get too compacted even if you use a bit of force to push it in.
Thanks for this; I really like the simplicity and being able to use recycled materials to make the tool. Please for your next video turn off the laundry dryer (or whatever it was) it made it harder to hear what you were saying.
Love the idea. How long can these blocks be used in the greenhouse before they fall apart (with all the watering that seedlings need to stay alive)? Up north we can't plant out as early.
puddymaws If you use a good soil-block-mix, they will last as long as needed. The mixture holds together, and as the roots grow, it holds together even better. I recommend Elliot Coleman's recipes: www.pottingblocks.com/eliot_coleman_soil_blocks/ If you can bottom water, than can help, too, in the beginning.
I LOVE this!! So in the circular ones, are you using a soilless mix to start the seeds? And in the square ones a potting soil? It's sheer genius! I just subscribed to your channel.
For the small blocks, I use this recipe: th-cam.com/video/PkmlPRQmA2g/w-d-xo.html
For the larger blocks, I use web.archive.org/web/20151221083051/www.pottingblocks.com/eliot_coleman_soil_blocks
I've changed over to this channel for the rest of my gardening videos! th-cam.com/channels/qNBSeeQ8GVcjyi6M70N8Og.html
Really interested in your cloth diaper technique. Could I use this technique immediately after planting seeds in the smaller soil blocks, or would I need to wait until they have germinated and taken root?
This is so clever!
Great job 👍 with the video..
Fabulous!!!!!!! TFS!!!!
Great help! Thanks.
Self made genius!
Lovely video..thanks for making
Great homemade tool!
However, my OCD can't handle the fact that the hole is not in the middle of the block.
yeah, drove me nuts too.
Sorry guys. The plants don't mind, though. :-)
Thanks for the 🤣!
you are a clever boy :)
So I’m just thinking aloud here, on the second block form, what if you let the dowel extend on both sides of the wood square? Would eliminate the need for a baby food jar?
Awesome! Thanks for sharing!
Genius ! Thank you
What happens if u make four..tape them together with duck tape ...can u make 4 at a time? The big block is kinda cumbersome....flower growers dont use the big block...i would think it may be unnecessary in a lot of cases anyway...
Sweet method bro! I just worry about making the blocks too tight so that the roots are inhibited. Do you have any experience making the blocks too tight?
Should be no problem because the peat moss keeps them loose. I pressed mine hard, and the roots did just fine.
Excellent..thank you!
Cherokee Rose You're welcome!
that's pretty cool!
This is great!
woah really cool put a patent on it!! lol i love it :)
thanks for sharing
i think its great he shared it for free with the world rather than patent it!
I was looking for ideas for bigger blocks, for small ones I just use cardboard egg cartons
Thank you!
Brilliant
Very nice, thank you.
Very smart.
super smart!
Damn impressive!
Brilliant!
Matthew, what did you use to cut the cedar block? I'm imagining it would be difficult to get the edges to fit perfectly in the costco salt container like you did....
You know, I can't really remember. I don't have any fancy tools. I just used a hand saw and maybe a pocket knife.
Great show, but not so great mechanical noise in the background...
GENIUS!!!
Very good
What’s your soil mix?
thanks 4 sharing ur technique, its great. However, i tried ur link for soil recipe and the link isnt working. could u please check it? thx
I just checked, and it worked for me. Maybe the server was down. Can you try it again? www.pottingblocks.com/eliot_coleman_soil_blocks/
Matthew Farnell It's working ............ Great job MacGyver !
thanks for sharing