You buy soil for seedlings, but the plants still wither?
It turns out that for decades, manufacturers have been adding a dangerous component to the soil that turns your seedlings into invalids.
We reveal the truth, after which you will stop trusting store-bought bags!
Mistakes of gardeners
The main mistake is blind faith in the labels on the packaging.
Most ready-made soils contain peat dust, which compacts after watering and suffocates the roots.
The second mistake is ignoring acidity. Tomatoes and peppers die in soil with a pH below 6.0, but sellers keep quiet about this.
The third problem is using garden soil without processing it. It contains pest larvae and fungal spores that kill seedlings within a week.
The fourth mistake is adding fresh manure. It burns the roots and attracts the mole cricket, which destroys all the seedlings overnight.
Tips and tricks
Make your own soil: mix 3 parts coconut fiber, 1 part vermicompost and 1 part perlite.
Coconut loosens the soil, and vermicompost replaces chemical fertilizers.
Before sowing, pour boiling water and potassium permanganate (1 crystal per 1 liter) over the mixture - this will kill pathogens.
To reduce acidity, add dolomite flour (1 tbsp. per 5 liters of soil).
If you don’t have time to mix it, buy soil marked “For seedlings” and check the composition.
Improve store-bought soil: add 1 cup of wood ash per 5 liters of mixture.
Ash not only deoxidizes the soil, but also contains potassium, phosphorus and microelements.
For tomatoes and peppers, add 1 teaspoon of superphosphate per 3 liters of soil - this will strengthen the roots.
If the plants turn yellow, water them with iron chelate (1 g per 1 l of water).
Experienced gardeners advise making the soil for seedlings themselves. A mixture of coconut and biohumus allows you to get shoots on the 3rd day.
It is also recommended to add crushed eggshells to the soil (0.5 cups per 5 liters), which will make plants less susceptible to blossom-end rot.
It is also often recommended to mix store-bought peat with sand and ash (5:1:1) to obtain the ideal base for seedlings.
