What's A Compost Block Grown Plant?

The term 'compost block' has been used in horticulture for many, many years and simply refers to when the growing medium is compressed to make a block of compost; fill a plant pot up with moist compost and firm gently before tapping it out (as you would a sandcastle) and the result would be a compost block.

In years gone by, block-making machines were used extensively in the industry to produce blocks that were used for sowing and transplanting into. Just like sandcastles, these would easily collapse and break - and so the blocks would be put into trays for transportation and use. As time has moved on, and manufacturing methods and materials have changed, the transport tray itself has become the modular compartment that is filled with compost to make the blocks - into which seeds can be sown or seedlings transplanted for growing on. But remove whatever you have grown from that modular tray and you are back to the good old 'compost block'!

There are of course many, many sizes of modular tray, with cell volumes varying from smaller than the top of your little finger to bigger than some flowerpots - we don't think terms such as 'cell plant' or 'plug plant' can really be used to describe all these sizes accurately and fairly. And so, mindful of our traditional heritage and the chunky size of our 'plug plants', we think the term 'compost block-grown' is accurate and deservedly used.

Here at Victoriana we produce our plants in two different sizes of compost block (details below). Whether these be vegetable plants or ornamental plants all stock is supplied fully hardened off (with the exception of such items as tomatoes and chillies) - so can be planted directly out into their final positions.

	This is our standard-sized compost block, which we use for most of our young plant production, including 'lawn plants' such as Heath Pearlwort, Chamomile and Thyme. It measures approximately 1½" x 1½" x 2½" deep (4cm x 4cm x 6cm deep). The plant in this picture is a Lupin and is typical of the size and quality you can expect from us.
	This is our larger size of compost block, which we use for some our larger vegetable subjects such as Artichokes, Asparagus, Cardoons and Seakale. It measures approximately 2" x 2" x 2½" deep (5cm x 5cm x 6cm deep). The plant in this picture is a Cardoon and is typical of the size and quality you can expect from us.