Soil Blocker or not?

[gtaus]

Thinking about investing in a soil blocker like this one from Amazon.com. I like the idea of "air pruning" the roots so they don't get root bound like in normal plastic seed starters. Wondering if anyone can advise me on soil blockers and their value?

FWIW, I made a DIY soil blocker out of a PVC pipe, some plywood, and bolts. It works OK, But my DIY PVC soil blocker only makes 1 soil block at a time, the soil block is round, and sometimes the soil sticks to the plywood and tears the block apart when I make it. The plants do grow well in the soil block and are easy to transplant. I think I can see the potential in the soil blocker method, just wondering if it's time to invest in a better unit? Or, just reuse plastic seed starters I saved from buying plants at the store?

 

[casportpony]

I wonder if @R2elk can help?

 

[gtaus]

I wonder if @R2elk can help?

Thanks. I hope someone can offer some advice on this subject.

 

[Kiki]

This thing looks pretty neat.
What does the one you made look like?

 

[R2elk]

Thanks. I hope someone can offer some advice on this subject.

There are any number of ways to save costs on starter containers. One person I know makes her starter pots from newspapers. If you do a Google search for

make starter pots from newspaper

You will find lots of information. A number of places sell molds to make it easier to form the pots.

I use the Jiffy Strips to start seeds in, usually 4 to 5 seeds per cell as in one in each corner and one in the center . Once the seedlings are up and trying to get leggy, I transplant them to 3" Jiffy Pots. The next stage is transplanting them into re-used one gallon pots from previous purchases. I have quite a collection from years of gardening plus the many that others have given me.

I never have a problem with the plants getting root bound because I start them seeds initially for the plants to be good sized but not too big when it is time to move them into the garden.

I can't tell you if that gadget has any merit but can tell you that my method works for me so well that I won't even consider it.

Good luck.

 

[gtaus]

I can't tell you if that gadget has any merit but can tell you that my method works for me so well that I won't even consider it.

Thank you for outlining your method and adding links. That helps. I fully understand not wanting to consider other methods such as soil blocks if you are successful with your current method using jiffy strips and pots. I have not yet found a successful method that works for me, so I am considering all options at this point.

 

[R2elk]

Thank you for outlining your method and adding links. That helps. I fully understand not wanting to consider other methods such as soil blocks if you are successful with your current method using jiffy strips and pots. I have not yet found a successful method that works for me, so I am considering all options at this point.

My real point is that your plants only get root bound if you leave them in the same size container too long.

Buying plants at a garden store or nursery, you will find nothing but root bound plants. One method of dealing with those is to slice through the roots vertically about 3 times (1/3 of the way around the pot for each slice) prior to putting in the ground or a bigger pot. It encourages new root growth which is not trained to stay inside the root ball. Hope that's a little clearer than mud.

 

[gtaus]

Buying plants at a garden store or nursery, you will find nothing but root bound plants.

I think this might be what is happening to me. I buy plants from the garden store, and they never really seem to take off and grow like I would expect.

 

[gtaus]

One method of dealing with those is to slice through the roots vertically about 3 times (1/3 of the way around the pot for each slice) prior to putting in the ground or a bigger pot.

I did not know that I could do that. I thought slicing through the roots would kill the plant. So I will remember that for next year. I live in northern Minnesota, and just buy tomato and pepper plants from the garden store. My pepper plants have not grown well in many years, and I always suspected they were root bound when I bought them. That is why I was looking at the soil blockers - to avoid plants that were root bound.

 

[gtaus]

This thing looks pretty neat.
What does the one you made look like?

It's just a section of 2 inch PVC pipe, with a wooden top and bottom and a bolt with nuts and washers to hold the plunger together. There is a wooden plug in the PVC pipe at the top where you see the screws holding it in place. You just drill a hole in the middle of that plug so the bolt/plunger can move back and forth.

Like I said, this DIY PVC soil blocker works OK, but it only makes one soil block at a time. The wooden plug at the end sometimes gets "sticky" and the soil block will come apart when I push it out. Of course, I just refill the soil blocker and redo it. But I think it would work better with a plastic or metal plug on the plunger. The other issue is that my DIY PVC soil blocker makes round soil blocks, so they take up more room on a flat. The square soil blocks from the metal soil blocker I am looking at would fit better in a flat.

I have had success using these soil blocks from my DIY PVC unit, but I am thinking of stepping up my game next year and maybe starting a lot more plants than I have before. This DIY unit was easy to build and it does work. The advantage to soil blocks is supposedly the plants will "air prune" the roots and thereby not get root bound. That is supposed to make for a better transplant.

Anyway, here are the pics you requested.