How to Use Soil Blocks, Maximize Your Space, and Triple Your Seedlings!

The first time I ever saw "soil blocks" in action was during a Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine demonstration of the nitty-gritty of soil composition, fertility, and seed sprouting techniques. This winter, I decided to test the method out and it actually allowed me to germinate many seeds in a compact space: 2 trays and heating mats under grow lights in the garage. While you can mix your own seed starting medium, if you are pressed for time, you can use an organic pre-mixed one like Burpee Organic Seed Starting Mix - however, if you choose this one, make sure to add 3/4 cup of organic fertilizer to support your seedlings' growth until they are ready to be potted up or transplanted outside! my first attempt without this extra step ended up in a total disaster....

Pour the mix into a bucket and add enough water to make it moist enough so it holds its shape when you squeeze it in your hand without wringing any water. Once you reach that consistency, you are ready to use a soil block maker (I bought mine online at Johnny's Select Seeds) to create tidy soil cells open to the air so that seedlings' roots are air pruned and do not become root-bound. One standard tray can house 78 blocks - that's a lot of plants! :)

With this system, I can start in mid-January indoors, placing a couple of trays on 2 heating mats (I bought mine on Amazon) and under grow lights (also bought on Amazon) in the garage to jumpstart germination- one for veggies and the other one for medicinal herbs. Needless to say, you can scale this up or down, depending on your gardening dreams. Take that, winter!