Ladbrooke Authentic Soil Block Maker Mini 4 Hand Held - Most Popular Soil Blocking Tool, Made in England

I love this and have been busy making my soil blocks for my veggies, flowers, and herbs! You won't regret buying this product! It might seem a little pricey, but it will soon pay for itself!

Love this thing thanks.

Bought this for a first attempt at soil blocking after reviewing the options. I was expecting the Ladbrooke to be nice based on reviews, but was still happy to see how well made it is. After a little bit of tweaking the soil mix I was churning out perfect soil blocks with ease. 2" size was perfect for my needs starting a variety of seeds.

Works really well- you just really have to get the right soil at the right consistency. I feel like this will last me years and years. It’s very sturdy and easy to use. The biggest con is that it sounds awful. I’m not sure if you can really do anything about that- I have seen reviews from other soil blockers that said the same thing. I looked at a few different brands but ultimately I decided on this one since it seemed like the sturdiest one- even though it’s pricey.

Works great!

I have this large, 2”, 4-block soil maker and also a smaller, 1/2”, 16-block soil maker and this larger version is my favorite for 80% of my indoor seed starting. Last season I made hundreds of soil blocks and found the process to be efficient, easy and effective for all but the tiniest of seeds. I do take care to clean it well after use. When making soil blocks, there is a sweet spot with the moisture level of your soil mix. If its too wet or too dry, the soil blocks could either stick to the block maker or the blocks could crumble/not hold their shape. I also sift my soil after mixing as large chunks in the soil don’t make for the best, sturdiest blocks and can inhibit seed germination. I’ve had excellent success with a sifted recipe combing coco coir, sand, perlite, worm castings and compost. The only hiccup I’ve encountered is that I’ve lost 3 of the 4 small plastic divets and haven’t yet figured out a solution for replacing them.

Soil blocks are amazing, and I wish I'd just pulled the trigger on this device when I first heard of them. Last year, I made a cheap "soil blocker" out of an old Crystal Light container. I didn't want to spend money on this contraption before I was sure soil blocks would work. Well heck yes they work! My seedlings love them. I'm not sure if it's the dense soil (recipe below) or the even moisture or what, but my plants consistently grow better in blocks than inserts. Plus transplanting is simplified (just put it straight in the ground) and easier on the plants roots.You do need to use special soil to get the blocks to stay together, but it's easy to make:Soil Recipe:- 1 part peat moss or coco coir- 1 part pearlite or vermiculite- 1 part finished compostMix it all up dry, then put on some rubber gloves (the kind you'd wash dishes in) and start mixing in water. Better too much water then too little, but ideally you want to be able to squeeze a handful, open your hand, and have it hold its shape. It's a messy affair, like making mud pies. Don't make my mistake of running straight to the garden after work without changing into grungy clothes - apparently mud stains :/I can fit 50 of these 2-inch blocks in a standard 1020 tray, and it makes bottom-watering easy. I can get away without humidity domes because these hold so much water. These are more work upfront than inserts or pots, but less work at transplant time, and less seedlings lost to shock.I also bought the "micro" blocker (the one with 20 tiny blocks) and I would say don't bother with it. It's too hard to keep the tiny blocks moist. They are really only good for germination, and it is way easier to just germinate in a tray of soil and prick out the baby seedlings than go thru the hassle of the itsy bitsy blocks.

I cannot tell you how pleased I am with this product. It is made in England and is very durable. I was very impressed with the construction of the tool. I give it 4 stars for ease of use, because it took me several attempts before I was able to get the results that I wanted. I watched several videos on how to use, but none seem to explain it well enough for me. My biggest issue was having the tops of the soil blocks come off when I removed the tool. I ended up throwing several soil blocks back into my bin because of this (which is actually a nice thing to be able to reuse any blocks that do not turn out correctly). Once I figured out a technique that seemed to work for me, I was getting consistent results and everything was great. I ended up making over 100 blocks in one sitting (I would advise against this, as I was actually feeling a bit worn out toward the end). Another piece of advice I would give is to measure your trays that you are putting the blocks in so that you can get the most blocks into the trays as possible.Overall, very good product and I am sorry that I hesitated to buy it all these years.