Ladbrooke Authentic Soil Block Maker - Maxi 4" Hand Held, Made in 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.

Too big and just do not see the usefulness. I will try it again next year.

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

This one doesn't work as well as the smaller 2 inch blocking tool. I had to really pack it full, manually placing the soil in the top of the tool before pressing the rest down into the soil. Even using all of my weight I could not get the top portion to compress without adding soil to it before pressing. Then I had to slowly, gradually work the plunger up and down to try to release the block so the top portion would release cleanly. I experimented with multiple different moisture levels in the blocking soil, but none would form easily with this tool. I have been using the 2 inch 4 block tool for several Yeats, and never have had any issue with it forming. This tool is extremely overpriced for how poorly it does it's job.

I have several other sizes of soil blockers that I love, but this one is impossible to use. If you can get the soil to come out in the proper shape, the block sinks a minute or less after you put the plant in it. It also uses A LOT of dirt. I'm returning it.

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

8 soil blocks fit in a standard 1020 nursery tray. This is a great tool for potting up seedlings that you want well established before moving outside. Be aware that this much soil gets a bit heavy and can overload flimsy 1020 trays. I've found that Bootstrap Farmer trays hold up best.