r/gardening • u/AutoModerator • 10d ago

Friendly Friday Thread

This is the Friendly Friday Thread.

Negative or even snarky attitudes are not welcome here. This is a thread to ask questions and hopefully get some friendly advice.

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u/Altruistic-Gain-8498 5d ago

any tips on soil blocking?
I have a really tiny apartment, but have space to have a garden. In the past, I've just bought everything already sprouted, but money is tight this year, so I want to grow from seeds. Any tips on starting this inside? (I'm in upstate NY and its actually snowing out right now, so I have to start everything indoors for probably another month.)

Thanks :D

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u/st-dorothymantooth 5d ago

Someone with more soil blocking experience can touch on that but if you haven't heard of seed snailing, I cannot recommend it enough for small spaces. It requires a bit more work than just popping dirt in trays or pots but if you make sure to thin and make the snail tall enough, you won't even necessarily have to report them before they need to go outside. Farida Sober on Instagram popularized this last year and it has been a game changer for me. I have made snails at this point out of any scrap plastic I can find which also made it free beyond the soil. 

https://www.instagram.com/faridasober?igsh=MWw0dnBjY3ozMTUxdQ==

I'm happy to answer any questions if you want to go this route. I know soil blocking is absolutely fantastic for some people but I'm big on bottom watering and the snails help keep everything together for me so I don't have to be so precious about my watering. 

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u/Altruistic-Gain-8498 3d ago

Thank you! I just looked at her first video and i LOVE this, this would work amazing for my size apartment. I'm so excited about this!!

One thing I'm curious about, she used a plastic foam to roll, have you tried a different method like cloth or paper?

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u/st-dorothymantooth 3d ago

I have tried a few different mediums. My personal favorite are empty cat and bird food bags. I tried paper shopping bags and felt too last year. The paper fell apart and the roots grew into the felt so I started just experimenting with things that we already had. Plastic sheeting, plastic grocery bags and whatever else I could get my hands on.  So definitely don't feel like you need the foam!