Thank you for pointing out that soil blocking is hard on those of us with arthritis. I hope the Epic team will do more tips for disabled gardeners.

I love seeing more of Meg on the channel! She's such a great presenter.

I was just going to write you a note today and tell you how special it is to receive a package from Botanical Interest. When seeds arrive in the printed boxes that I have come to know, its so special to open the box and find your seeds tied into a bow with the lovely green ribbon and carefully packaged into the box with the special paper that I don't even know how to describe. It's just really special, so please don't change that. I love giving these seeds as gifts. Meg is awesome!

I've been soil blocking for a few years now and do agree with pretty much all of the cons listed, its definitely not a good intro point for people new to gardening. I have arthritic hands and wear thick gloves to press the blocks, which helps but it still hurts after you do enough of them. However I love not dealing with plastic cells, I'd have to remortgage my house to buy enough epic cells to fill my racks here in canada, and the flimsy ones are frustrating and wasteful. Figuring out your soil blocking mix that works for you is key for them to not fall apart. I found that adding coco coir and sheep wool pellets to the mix helps a lot, but pressing the ever loving crap out of them is the biggest help. Lean on that soil blocker like it owes you money. Which is does, because it was like $70 to buy. You end up with packed blocks that stay together, and everything grows like stink in them. You Can't Eat the Grass and Regenerative Gardening both have great videos on soil blocking technique. I'm considering a Swift Blocker for next year. Super expensive to get in canada, but I think my hands will thank me.

With the squash, I would think the cause of the difference in colour between the jug and the soil block/seed trays is more likely because the jug doesn't allow a same amount of light through the jug container that the other two methods get through the greenhouse. It's obviously still enough light, but the jug is not completely clear, so it would still be slightly less.

I have used the milk jug method several times. I find I get better looking plants when I use a clear bottle rather than the opaque milk jug.

Thanks Meg for pointing out the accessibility angle to the seed methods!

Because of arthritis in my hands, I can’t use soil blocking. Cutting up plastic jugs isn’t easy either. Like you, I do sturdy plastic seed trays that can be used for years. They work just fine, but having a light setup is critical, as you say. Using the easiest method makes it possible to garden years longer, which matters to me at 77.

Id add a few tips and cost savings ive learned. 1) when hardening off DON'T move your plants around frequently. Like twice a day. Its too much. Some plants will get stressed out. If you can help it. Obviously move them before the conditions will damage them like frost or being in too much sun. But.. In the house if you have a room that gets a short amount of sun. You can partially harden them indoors. If you have shady spots in your yard, move them there first for a few days. I have full on shade, partially sunny, etc. I have the full spectrum. So i just "graduate" the starts as they respond to increase pressure. Its less work for me. 2) buy the nice trays if you decide to do trays. (Not the cells - more larter) start small you can buy more later. I started with cheap trays. Its fine if your not sure you want to garden. But if theres a chance you will stick with it... one day you will rage quit cheap trays and everything you purchased will be in the garbage. Because one day youll carry those trays somewhere and they will fail and break and dump everything on the ground. And you'll see your 8 weeks of work with your tomatoes on the ground. Probably no longer salvageable. Buy the nice trays. Not the most expensive. They'll last you for life. 3) i love epic gardening & there stuff. but... NEVER buy seed cells. From anyone. Most of the time the quality is terrible. Really cheap ones fall apart and your constantly replacing them. Mid grade ones people feel they can charge enough you may consider taking out a heloc for. The really nice ones like at epic gardening... youll sell your house cash out your 401k, barrow from a relative, sell a kid, and sell an organ to afford. Use solo cups. Mid grade quality. So yes youll occasionally need to replace, but very infrequently. And extremely cheap. You can cut them to air prune. They are typically taller which can cause some watering issues initially. But they root deeper. I find when transfered into the garden they are more resilient than traditional cells. And you can find solo cups in all the standard sizes. Its probably ok to get a few cell trays for setups you know youll always do. But lean heavily on solo cups or something comparable. To save money.

Yesss love Meg!! I’ve been following her on TikTok for a long time. Her voice is so soothing. So happy that you guys are working with her!

I have arthritis in my hands so I get you on soil blocking, but I still love it. I hadn't seen someone pack them like you do. I use a wide tub and essentially scrape the blocker at an angle through the soil then pull it upright at the as it gets close to me and push it down into the soil. IMO, easy and quick and less pain on the hands--at least my hands.

I have CRPS in my hands, and have always wanted to soil block but I just cannot. It hurts too much. Good on Meg for highlighting accessibility and disabilities. Us older gardeners need to be thought about as well.

You can water soil block from the top! I use a solo sprayer to create a mist and works wonderfully. Another pro about soil blocks is they naturally air prune and you don't have a billion plastic cell packs around. You can also fit a huge amount of blocks in a standard 10x20 tray with a humidity dome, i fit 65 blocks per 10x20

I have great success with the winter sowing method. For squash plants, the container needs to be opened when the set of true leaves has developed. Just like you would remove a humidity dome when planting in trays inside. The squash plants are more sensitive to air circulation. The winter sown seedlings have strong roots and are acclimated.

Yep, direct sowing! I've bought transplants, I've started seedlings indoors and in greenhouses I've used trays and Dixie cups. I know I live in 9a so I do have a long growing season, but every plant I but and seed I transplant don't do nearly as well as the direct sown. I do start tomatoes and brassicas in cups due to temperatures but I've learned direct sowing as much as possible

I've done soil block trays on west facing windowsills. It works better for volume if you have a seed starting setup, but it's not necessary. Also, you can rest the soil blocker on the edge of something and pack with your fingers. I've actually done all three of these methods too and it really depends on the plant. Winter sowing is great for plants native to your area. It takes seeds directly through the conditions necessary for germination. Seed trays (such as the epic six or four cells) are great for tomatoes, peppers, things where you want to encourage more downward growth before you transplant. Soil blocking is great for annual flowers, beans, peanuts, peas, cucumbers, squash, etc. because you can just pick it up and plant (vs seed cells where there's more root disturbance because you have to push up on the seedling or pull it to get it out). It works for peppers and tomatoes too, but depending on your zone, you'd need to up-pot 4-6 weeks after starting them whereas they can stay in the seed cells a bit longer because they typically have a bit more vertical space.

No paper towel method? That's one of my best methods with almost 100 percent germination

Great video! When you grow good (Botanical Interests) seed, germinating isn't that hard. Getting the seedling to turn into a healthy plant... well, that's taken a lot of trial and error. Thanks for the ideas. The Burpee plastic and silicone reusable cells/trays do a great job for very little money though they won't last as long as the Epic hard plastic. Plus, don't skimp on the grow lights and heat mats. I have so many potted up starts this year that I've been giving them away by the trayload to friends and co-workers just so they don't go to waste. My small yard is starting to look like a farm thanks to the Epic Gardening team and BI. Dang you all! LOL!

Great information and a great shout-out for the accessibility pros and cons. Good work! I use the jug method for my tomato and tomatillo seeds, but I use clear gallon glass jars. I use onion net bags to lay on the bottom to help remove the plant once it is ready. I find this method works best for them to prevent dampening. With my root veggies (except potatoes), I use the old tissue wrapping paper and cornstarch. I lay the tape face down and they performed wonderfully. I direct sow all my squash and melons. I use seed trays for non-root veggies and flowers. I have had mine for ages, just keep reusing these plastic babies. For herbs, I directly sow in pots.

Would love a video on indoor seed starting (for those of us that don’t have a greenhouse) I never know what lights to buy, heating mats, etc. there’s so much information out there!

I don't usually post requests, but considering you've been doing a lot of experimenting lately, could you perhaps do a video on the 'rollup'/'snail' seed starting method? I don't know if there is an official name for this method, so if anyone knows, please reply! But basically you take something that can be rolled up, like cardboard, certain types of fabric, or even packing foam, cut out or use a long rectangle, add soil, roll it up, and sow into the spiral. This way, is the idea, you can sow a larger number of plants in a smaller space than if you'd be using trays or something like that. I've tried this myself this year and it worked quite well, but would love to see a video of you trying different materials and maybe for different plants, and give some background info on if it's a good idea and if so, if it works better for certain plants, etc.

She's a great presenter! Seems like a genuine and intellectual person and a natural speaker. I enjoyed this vid and I'm reevaluating my germinating methods now.

I’m a big fan of soil blocking, started all my seeds with that method this year and had really good results. Planting them out was super easy.

I started using the snail method recently and it's been amazing. Coco + perlite (or any seed starting medium) coiled up with some thin film backing. Seeds are placed evenly on top and then a tiny bit more growing medium. I germinate in a clear bin with led strip laid on top, and then let grow a bit. Unravel and they separate easily with minimal neighbors (it's a long linear strip of dirt essentially). I even put the snails into my hydro spots once they sprout so they can grow a few inches. For me it just works and I never have to worry about it.

i only soil block for all the pro's mentioned, but if i soil blocked like the way she just showed i would prob hate it too!! lol. need a tub and she needed to sift the potting mix to get rid of the big chunks. with a tub just take the soilblocker and just go from top just pushing it into the soil mix then flatten bottom and plunge. a 10*20 tray would take about 5 min. cons about the cost idk those seed trays are pretty expensive. Another benefit of soilblocks is pretty much no transplant shock and even when they get bigger and should've been put in ground earlier. Or you can just "up pot" by balling more soil around sqares and you could go as big as you needed to. but whatever keeps people growing is what they should do.

So sorry you've had bad experiences with soil blocking! I love it because it eliminates some plastic from my garden and a well-cared-for soil blocker will last for the life of the gardener. I've needed to change some of my habits around seed starting to get the maximum benefit from the method, but after the changes I've found that I get better germination than with any other method- probably because there's higher moisture content in the soil after blocking and yet there's also better oxygen penetration into the soil. All that said, it's important to use the method that works best for you with your habits. :)

Great video, especially for those who haven’t tried starting from seeds. I’ve been planting seeds for awhile but always learn something new. I asked for the Epic deep seed starting trays for Christmas and let me tell you, they’re a game changer for me. The deeper size and the air pruning slits made it so that I was able to grow tomatoes and peppers from start to planting out in them, saving time and additional soil that wasn’t needed to up pot to a larger size. I may need to adjust my starting time next year because the plants did so well and having to hold my peppers back because of chilly weather made them slightly root bound. I just teased the roots some before planting in my raised beds and they’re growing like crazy. The trays aren’t inexpensive but like you said, they’ll last forever. The bottom tray that’s sold separately is nice and rigid for moving them around.

Yes Yes Yes! I’m a stay at home mom (so I make no money) loves gardening and having trouble growing chives, oregano, and rosemary from seeds.

Meg has such a soothing voice and style! Great exploration of these different methods. Casting my vote for the Epic 6-cell trays - they really are fantastic. Very sturdy, easy to use, and my seedlings did great in them. Just a great product that I'm glad to have!

I buy seeds from a guy in Florida for fruit trees and he sends them in a ziploc bag with vermiculite and it works very well. I get quite a bit of mold with the paper towel method.

I love the way the details provided in this video. Meg always provided more detailed information which is extremely helpful for beginners like me.

Idk why but “sad little beans” made me laugh. Love Meg ❤she’s awesome and well spoken with solid information

I really appreciate that Meg mentioned accessibility in methods! I just had carpal tunnel surgery 6 months ago and that factors in now. Thanks!

I know my limits for attention, so spring and winter sowing works so well for me. Winter sowed may have less on top, but they often have a better developed root system. I bought aluminum roasting pans with plastic domes. I even sowed cucumbers and other tender veg, those I stacked in my little greenhouse rack on my deck and snapped the lid on. It held the moisture in. I didn't need to water until the heat of mid May. I know I won't keep up with watering, and I don't have lights or space inside.

Always welcome to have Meg. About the germination methods, i've improvised a few things similar to some of these but having this done with organised comparisons is epic tier.

Thank for this video! I’m a newbie gardener and planning on seed starting for next spring and this video summed up everything I was having to research separately!

You should have tested the 4th method. The seed snail roll 💜 I used it this year and I'll NEVER use another method. I was blown away with the root system of everything I planted.

I saw a video of some lady in a foreign country making soil balls just by compacting a ball of soil in her hands and then putting a seed in each one. No fancy tool needed, but not sure what her soil mix was.

Thank you for this very valuable information. I started using seed block based on the recommendation of Becky at acre homestead. I did find it was difficult to take the seedlings from inside to outside on a covered shelf due to the fact we've had a very rainy spring. My seed blocks tended to just turn green. I don't like using seedling trays because they don't air prune. I didn't start early this year because the temperatures just didn't mitigate getting seedlings in bulk just to go outside and freeze and go dormant. I'm in zone 7B.

I use a bulk pack of red plastic cups from Costco. From memory they were about $20 for 100. I have been using and reusing them for 3 yrs so far and they hold more soil which means that you can put them out to harden off when the plants areca little more advanced. To put the 4 holes in the bottom I heat up a 2 prong meat carving fork over a gas stove flame and poke it through, easily. I have seen a couple of other KZfaq gardeners using the same red cups. I would recommend them for price and durability.

I love my seed blockers. Have used for many years and never watered from the bottom.

I find winter sowing (jug method) works best for frost tolerant veggies (lettuce, chard, etc) or flowers that need cold stratification and use grow lights for nightshades. I’m in zone 5 near Chicago, spring weather is a little unpredictable for heat loving plants to excel in the jugs! Just my experience, supposedly others in same area can grow anything in jugs!

With the winter sowing met 15:00 hod..when using the jug, leave a hinge at the handle then you can flip it open easily when you are reaching warmer weather. Also you can use juice jugs and I used a pretzle container with great success

I had great success with winter sewing tomatoes in late feb in zone 7. They grew the heartiest seedlings for me compared to seed trays, because I’m TERRIBLE at watering, and I traveled a lot. I probably could have started them in mid March and still be ok-something I’ll try next season!

I have done fairly well with winter sowing. I'm in SE Wisconsin. I don’t rely on that method for my 'must-haves' though. I would love a little more look into the roots of the soil blocks vs seed trays

Kevin, I've noticed that Botanical Interests does not ship to Canada and I am truly hurt and disappointed by this omission. We are kind, quiet, polite and clean neighbours. Contrary to popular belief, we have periods of warm weather suitable for growing all kinds of lovely veggies and flowers. Green thumbs abound here, north of the 49th parallel. Really! Show us some love. Send us some seeds why dontcha, eh?

I remember reading somewhere that someone put their potted seedlings under a clear storage bin during winter and used it as a greenhouse.

Love this time a year for your amazing deals!

I did soil blocking for the first time this year and I think I had the BEST seedlings I have ever had.

Like she said I use jugs for perennials, especially ones that need cold stratification. I use soil blocking for sensetive plants and for when I am starting a lot to share with others (then I dont have to pay for containers or try and get mine back) I use the durable Winstrip or "root pruning" trays for most of my stuff. I agree they are a lot easier to use. I got ones that will last my whole lifetime.

Clone trays, 50 spaces, water, heat mat, harden off, transfer to solo cups then to 3-10 gallon pots if doing containers has been best for me.

I do the milk jug sowing and have great success with it. Zone 6.

I just bought two soil blockers (different sizes). I look forward to using them later in the year. ✨

I live in central Texas, I put mine in a seed starting tray with a lid because it’s dry af out here and it works like a charm

Burpee SuperSeed silicone seed tray is a game changer for me. But I've start to embrace direct showing as well.

Yo comment section. What would you do if you had very small amount of good quality soil either used or naturally found, almost no store bought fertilizer and no homemade compost when you are first starting. your goal is to grow as much has possible and it being self sustaining and finding ways to add nutrients to the soil and improving soil quality and actually compering the results to see what grows best like medieval time what would be the approach purely theoretical what would you think the results would be. that could be an interesting video though it probably wouldn’t generate good crops or be good for the garden it would be interesting to see a minimal recourses gardening

I'm interested in buying some Epic Seed Trays, but I'm unsure what cell number is optimal for which type of plant. Even the Epic 4-Cell Seed Tray has two sizes. Do you guys have a guide in your website/webstore or have a video on this?

I love the details in this video 👊🏻🌻👊🏻

Geez, now I'm out scouring the streets of NC looking for seed starter trays.... Thanks Meg 😂

Oh! Something else - I try to winter sow because my cats get into everything! If you have cats that can’t resist plants it’s a great way to keep seeds safe!

Thank you Meg. Great information.

I leave winter sowing for cool-season annuals and any of my perennials. I think the temperature swings are just too much for fussy annuals that want consistently warm temperatures like the beans and tomatoes. I always start my greens and brassicas with the winter sowing method in late winter and then transplant them out in early spring when we don’t get any more super extreme low temperatures.

Omg the jug method works great. I tried it for the first time this year. It was transplanting those sprouts too early that ruined it for me. I jug-started my sunflowers this spring so I could start them earlier and it worked great! And then I transplanted them and the birds and lizards woke up from winter and ate them all 😢 definitely trying again this fall/winter and saving all my jugs until then. I'm definitely a fan of "free" gardening hacks 😜

Great video! Meg did a great job!!

So my answer depends. I have great success winter sowing perennials as well as cole crops. Inside warm veggies and soil blocks are good for starting if you know how to use them then uppot. I have epic success with cut flowers and perennial seeds, winter sowing cold climate & easy stratification. I am saving myself hundreds establishing perennials. Wish she would have tried perennials seed they are a challenge along with some that need stratification.

Would’ve loved if you guys had Regenerative Gardening with Blossom and Branch on this, her insight on soil blocking is extensive and would’ve been so helpful to hear about it from someone with a lot of experience with it. When can we expect her back on your channel again?

Please do a follow up video on how the plants do post transplant since soil blocking is supposed to have the least transplant shock.

Blocking is ideal if you’re succession planting like a maniac, because each block size fits in the dimple of the next size up. you can have plants that are ahead of the game at any time

I’ve never heard of the presses, so I especially enjoyed seeing that comparison. Living on Texas, winter sewing is sort of non-existent

Can you use the winter sowing method for veggie seeds if you live in growing zones where it freezes in winter. Like in Michigan or Buffalo, NY

i will say in SoCal when i use my seed trys to start indoors i actually have a windowsill on my kitchen counter that i can use to put then on and they dont need grow lights or anything. but i AM in SoCal where its plenty sunshine and warm. so that might not work for everyone

Thanks for sharing

I recently ran across an article about "cloches". I am curious if you could start seeds that require stratification under a cloche? Then you wouldn't have to worry about transplanting! Just a thought...Thanks.

Great idea for an experiment, I have seen these all these methods recommended on KZfaq recently and have wanted to try them out. I tried the milk jug, but it was a very wet start to the year here in the uk, and they germinated fine, but never developed any further and died off before they were ready to transplant. I do think comparing hardened off plants in the milk jugs against indoor grown plants is not a true experiment. Whilst interesting, at that point you are comparing environments rather than sowing method. Would be curious to them all indoors vs all outdoors.

Meg is a natural teacher. ❤

That was really interesting and useful! Thank you! @meggrowsplants - are you going to keep track of which ones are planted out in your garden to track to see how these different start methods might continue to effect the plants during their life cycle? I'm just curious because I love nerdy testing like this. :D

Great video!

My comment about seed trays. its not limited to indoors. They can be started outside in the right climate. In places like a 6 or 5A yeah. you need to start indoors for many things.

I like your simple experiment

Help! I put my red fingerling seed potatoes in one of these grow bags, and I've kind of forgotten about them! I thought you were supposed to add dirt to the containers as they grew, and now they're out of control! Is it too late to add more dirt?

Winter sowing is the best for anything hardy/ half hardy. I will die on this hill.

I wonder how does starting seeds in newspaper pots compare to plastic pots and to peat pots? Would you consider doing a video on this?

Sooooo so so happy to know Meg has arthritis! So helpful to her that perspective as someone with chronic pain/inflammation so good to know. 👍

I think that by using the frosted jug rather than using an actual clear jug (Pop bottle) is preventing some of the sun from in.

UV rays have a hard time getting through the opaque milk jug, this would explain why seedlings are behind the other seedlings and are looking a lighter shade of green. 👍👍

Thank you!

I like winter or jug sowing onions and herbs.

The jug issue is probably the fact that they see no wind or breeze. I also wonder if the clear jugs still have something in them to prevent some rays of sunlight to prolong whatever liquids life that may end up being put inside them.

Another reason the jugs didn't develop as healthy seedlings is there is less warmth to the roots in the light colored container than the dark. You might want to look into next year is biodegradable mesh soil bags. The true test of these methods is results after transplanting particularly upon beans and what you would normally sow directly. Much as you dislike the soil blocks, they have the least root disturbance during planting than any containers shown

HELP: I just go a table raised bed and don't know how or what to plant in it. Any tips?

First year doing soil blocking. I'll never go back. It's awesome.

Thank you. 😊

What are the slits in the trays for if there's a drainage hole?

Could it be that the milk jug material is filtering and reducing light for the seedlings?

Since the jugs were outside, they probably experienced more temp variations. Maybe that's what affected the beans and tomatoes so negatively. 🤔 Great experiment though!

How far in advance do you start seeds in the jugs?

Hey, do you think that the beans actually invaded the other soil blocks and got more soil?So that's why they're doing better.

Soil blocking genuinely looks like the most tedious work haha

Were the trays done using a humidity dome?

I use rockwool or paper towel method. Neither ever fail