Market Farming

[Lucy Goodman-Owsley <goodows AT excite.com>]

On Sat, 12 Feb 2000 01:44:45 -0600, market farming wrote:

>  OSTERSMITH AT aol.com wrote:
>  > 
>  > I am diligently following Elliot Coleman's recipe for seed starting
with soil blocks.  I have even made his 1/4 inch plywood 'trays' for holding
the blocks.  Does anyone use germination heat mats with this system?  Seems
to me like the wood would get in the way - but I can't imagine transfering
the blocks from heat mat to wood tray.
>  
>  Actually when I was using soil blocks they held together fairly well.  I
>  don't know what Elliot Coleman's mix is but mine had a fair amount of
>  peat moss in it as I recall.
>  
>  I would think a spatula might be helpful if the mix is kind of crumbly.
>  
>  Or alternatively, have you considered using the small 1/2" or 3/4" (I
>  forget) size to start the seeds, then just pick that up and put it in a
>  regular soil block?  There's a special insert to make the indentation in
>  the top of a regular soil block to take the smallest size after the seed
>  has germinated/sprouted.
>  
Holly,
excellent advice. It is best to start almost all seeds in the mini blocks
and than as soon as they germinate well transfer the mini block to the 2"
block that would be made away from the heat mat. Large seeds like squash and
melons, okra need to be started in larger blocks.
I have not tried this because my set up for seed starting isn't in a green
house, but bread racks I have heard make great trays for larger soil blocks.
The mesh air prunes and you can get a lot of blocks onto one of those trays
(I would guess200 or better). The draw back is weight when you need to move
the trays out to the field for transplanting.
>  


Lucy Goodman-Owsley
Boulder Belt CSA
New Paris, OH
Website: http://www.angelfire.com/oh2/boulderbeltcsa
Organic Farming and Gardening Forum:
http://www.InsideTheWeb.com/mbs.cgi/mb135705
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