Authentic Ladbrooke Maxi Soil Blocker, One 4" Block Per Press, England

I have been starting seedlings indoors for a few years now, and I really dislike using seedling trays. They are cheap, break, and they take forever to clean and store. Not to mention they are plastic and not great for the environment. I wanted to try soil blocking to see if my starts really are healthier and if I could avoid the junky plastic seedling trays. YES! It is all true. I love soil blocking for so many reasons. If you are thinking about trying it, I would suggest starting with the 1.5" inch maker first. You will quickly want to get all of the larger and smaller sizes. I really love using the smaller blocks and nexting them in the next size up as needed. I have found it very helpful to use my fingers to press the soil into the crevises of the blocker and rinse the blocker between each block/set of blocks you are making! Soil blocking is very doable and fun. I use 1/2 seed starting mix, 1/2 nice potting soil, a scoop or worm castings, and water to make my soil blocks. You can totally do this and you will love it.

This thing is awesome. The plants that were transplanted to it grew larger almost immediately. The soil stays together best if you leave it overnight to soak before making blocks. Also, it is important to dunk the tool in a bucket of water before each new block. The only downside is once you have made several the tray can get quite heavy.

Had a design flaw. The part on the inside moves when you're plunging it out and ruins the soil block 75% of the time

Makes a block that can be put in a 4" pot if you're planting in them. Otherwise just put in the ground. You need quite a bit of soil to pack it but does the job well. Well built.

I tried with different mixes of soil, all supposedly made for soil blockers and this large blocker is too large plus it is not put together well; the inside plug is crooked and might well be why the block does not hang together. Am going to try and return it as damaged goods as it was very expensive.

This works really well. Especially if you don’t want plastic pots going into landfills. We also use the 3/4” and 2” for germinating seeds. The plants start and maintain so well!! We use the 4” for larger plants such as tomatoes and peppers. They take a lot of soil, but so do pots. They are time consuming as only one can be made at a time. We found it difficult to fit them into a tray. Due to 4x4 size, 8 fit into a 1020 flat. Also, the flat gets really heavy especially after flat soaking to water the plants. I do think this company is great. Quality product

This is the grandaddy of them all. You start your seeds in the 1 cm blocks, move them on up to the 2" blocks, and then as the plants and their root systems start needing a little more room and space in the soil to root out, put them in the 4" x 4" blocks. Many more plants survive transplanting into your garden or even larger pots with this system. Check out Eliot Coleman's books and videos for this and oh so much more small scale organic farming advice, ideas and experience, especially where the growing season is short.

I need to get my soil consistency correct, but this works well so far. Sturdy construction