Do you have something growing on your soil blocks – other than seedlings? Today, Lisa and Layne discuss what to do about algae, mold, and fungal growth on soil blocks. They cover what might be growing on your blocks and why, how to properly water your soil blocks and adjust your growing conditions for healthy seedling growth, and tips for avoiding damping off. Listen to the podcast and get ready to troubleshoot the unwanted growth on your soil blocks!
The video version of Lisa and Layne’s conversation will be posted to The Gardener’s Workshop’s YouTube channel, where all “Seed Talk” episodes are organized into a playlist. In addition, auto-generated transcripts are available for viewing on YouTube. If there is a question or topic you would like to hear discussed on a future episode of “Seed Talk”, please fill out the form linked below. We would love to hear your suggestions!
Mentions:
”Seed Talk” YouTube Playlist – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_XyTW_NXwjuGZceGqMhdEJGf9orLPGN3
Shop: Seed Starting Equipment – https://thegardenersworkshop.com/product-category/seed-starting-2/
”Seed Talk” Topic Suggestion Form – https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdepCylcBM66XbMNlals5WRJXtAfFq8DavCGuV0_0-upGzqxg/viewform
TGW YouTube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/c/TheGardenersWorkshop
TGW iPhone App (iOS App Store) – https://thegardenersworkshop.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=63658f4e0e29e2ff0df1b0592&id=b5a13740d4&e=815663c59c
TGW Android App (Google Play) – https://thegardenersworkshop.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=63658f4e0e29e2ff0df1b0592&id=0792229f29&e=815663c59c
Sign up to receive our weekly Farm News! – https://thegardenersworkshop.com/free-farm-news/
The “Seed Talk with Lisa & Layne” podcast is produced by The Gardener’s Workshop and co-hosted by Lisa Mason Ziegler and Layne Angelo. Lisa is the founder and owner of The Gardener’s Workshop, where Layne works as Seed Manager. Lisa is the award-winning author of Vegetables Love Flowers and Cool Flowers and the publisher of Flower Farming School Online, Farmer-Florist School Online, and Florist School Online. Watch Lisa’s Story and connect with her on social media. Layne is an avid gardener, seed starter, and engineer who loves learning and applying her technical knowledge to all areas of life, including gardening and growing flowers. Thanks for joining us!
Have other questions not covered in this video? Connect with us during one of our live events:
https://thegardenersworkshop.com/connect/
Thanks for watching!
Lisa Ziegler
\ OUR VIRTUAL LEARNING CENTER:
Flower Farming On-Demand Workshops: https://thegardenersworkshop.com/on-demand-workshops/
Florist & Flower Farming 6-Wk Online Schools:
https://thegardenersworkshop.com/online-farming-and-business-schools/
\ OUR ONLINE GARDEN SUPPLY STORE
Shop Here: https://thegardenersworkshop.com/shop-our-store/
\ FOLLOW US:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gardenersworkshopfarm/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thegardenersworkshop/
\ LISTEN TO US:
Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/field-garden/id1552471058
Clubhouse: https://www.clubhouse.com/club/flower-farming?utm_medium=ch_club&utm_campaign=5c2kTv6c0zCMhKDhSW8dow-84137
\ ABOUT US:
We are a virtual learning center & online garden supply shop that specializes in gardening & FLOWER FARMING!
Owned & Operated by Lisa Mason Ziegler – She is a leader in the cut-flower growing industry, author, accomplished speaker, virtual course instructor, & the owner of The Gardener’s Workshop. Click To Learn More: https://thegardenersworkshop.com/
#flowerfarming #flowerfarm #flowertips
11 Comments
Extremely helpful! Thank you!
My soilblocks look terrible. Celosia is damping off and still -22 Celsius.
Good Lord winter in zone 3 !
I'm wondering if soil blocking is not for me. It's so cool that they don't dry out or do so very unevenly
Replanted celosia after damping off. New warmer room not in soil blocks this time, t 5 lights for warmth to dry the soil and a fan. Fingers crossed
Thank so much for all that good information. It made it much more enjoyable to be on my treadmill and learning all this. I’m doing soil blocks for first time this year.😊🌸🌺🌼
Should the whole block be wet? I have been watering enough that wets bottom but not soaked to the top of block.
I lost a tray of petunias.
My take-aways:
It's not necessary to be so miserly with water. In fact, It's fine to pour water out from time to time.
It's not necessary to be so miserly with heat. In fact, A couple extra degrees can lead to faster growth.
Even though I can't fully explain why or how, heat prevents problems that reduce vigor and affect the entire life span of the plant.
If you’re growing in soil blocks and in a hot climate, like me, the fan is a good way to help dry them out.
I have mushrooms growing on the soil, yet, I keep a fan going 24/7. I never leave water on the trays.
Atlanta 7B, I am an urban gardener, planting less than 500 annuals per year. I started soil-blocking seeds this year with the mini cells. The mini blocks dry out very fast because they are on a heat mat. I had success with the five-cell soil blocks placed on the microgreen cell trays because the grid prevented the blocks from sitting in water.
I ruined the germination using the wide weave burlap covering. I should have wet the burlap. I got germination with blocks under a humidity dome. It may have been the type of lights, I had no germination with burlap and LED lights and good germination with fluorescent lights and humidity dome. I had both lights 2 inches from the trays.
I’m m wondering if some fabric row cover pieces would work for moisture for germinating.