Below you will find a few Ladbrooke soil blocking recipes that are published on their website:
Grandpa's Recipe:
Take a two gallon bucket of good fine multi purpose compost and add:
- 6 Handfuls of sharp gritty sand
- 4 Handfuls of well rotted homemade compost (fine)
Mix ingredients together. Add water and stri until the mixture, when squeezed in your hand, holds together like a snowball.
Monty Don's Recipe:
Monty Don is trying out soil blocks in his garden and likes to make up his own mix. Here's the recipe he's currently using:
- 1 Part garden soil
- 1 Part leaf mold
- 1 Part garden compost
- 1 Part grit or vermiculite
- 4 Parts coir
You can also use store-purchased compost. But you may need to add loan or garden soil (as long as it isn't too sandy) to help bind it together.
Once you've mixed up your compost, make it very wet and mound it slightly on a flat surface. Then wet your soil blocker, push it down into the mix and squeeze out the new soil blocks onto a seed tray or flat wooden trya. It's important to remember to water soil blocks gently otherwise they can wash away, so if your watering from above, try using a fine rose on your watering can spray. alternatively, line your trays with capillary matting and dip one end in water - that way, they'll be able to soak up moisture from beneath.
Lisa Ziegler's Recipe:
Author of: Vegetables Love Flowers
For 20 cups (makes approximately 500 Micro 3/4" blocks or 36 Mini 2" blocs):
- 16 cups sifted peat moss or coco fibre
- 4 Cups sifted compost
- 1/4 Cup greensand
- 1/4 cup rock phosphate powder
Mix ingredients together dry, then mix in 3 parts dry mixture to 1 part water.