Herb Blocks

Over the past holiday I'm sure I've spent over $20 in spices and herbs for my feast. It just seems dumb I don't have my own going, especially when all the seeds are literally staring at me. Soooooo I decided to go with convenience and make myself some little herb blocks I can easily move around and not worry about making a mess.

I've picked out 10 different varieties of herbs and labeled each of my 4x4 blocks with a sharpie. (Its best to do this prior to soaking your blocks so the marker sticks) Much easier then plant labels if you ask me. I never have an issue with it coming off and never have to worry about guessing which plant is which because the damn thing fell out.

After you have them all labeled and ready to go we need to of course prep our rockwool. I have a bucket of water with a PH of 5.5. I will soak the blocks and also a couple A OK's for at least 15 minutes.

Take out your blocks and starters from the bucket. Do NOT squeeze the water out of them. I do however let them drain just the excess before i put them in the tray.

You dont have to do this but they do not make a 4x4 block without a hole so I will fill in in with the A OK's just for my OCD of things looking neat.

Once I have them stuffed I will score the corners where i will put the seeds. Also, another thing you do not have to do but some of the seeds call to be planted 1/8 in deep, I find the scoring helps me get the little seed in there and covered just enough. Others you can simply press onto the surface of your block. I also double up on my seeds in this situation just to ensure my blocks were full. Of course most of them popped. I will weed out the weak oncs when they get a little bigger.

                                

Once you have all your seeds nestled in to their new home you should put the tray on top of a heating mat and under a prop light. Cover your tray with a dome to keep in the humidity. These seeds pop fast and will easily stretch so  make sure they are not too far away from the light.

After a few days you will see sprouts!

*Boom*  

 

A Few weeks later...

 

It is harder to keep your algae growth down with all the spread out seeds but one thing I like to do is just take some coco chips or even just the fibers and sprinkle it on the surface of the block. I personally am not really bothered by it so as long as its under control I wont worry about it.

 

         Goddess Tip: the small kabob skewers you can get in the grocery store are perfect for supporting your little guys without damaging a lot of the new root material growing throughout the block.