You bought expensive soil, sowed the seeds, and a week later you discovered a white coating, mold, or even dead sprouts?
The culprit is not your inexperience, but the toxic substrate that is sold even in trusted stores.
The magazine Ogorodnye Sekrety conducted an investigation: out of 20 popular brands of soil for seedlings, 14 contained traces of herbicides, and in 8, fungus gnat larvae were found.
Experts from the Agrotest laboratory found that 70% of producers use spent greenhouse peat impregnated with pesticides.
Gardening blogger Anna Zlobina , author of the Green Revolution channel, warns:
"Even soil labeled "bio" can be dangerous. I always steam the soil, even if the package says "sterile."
Petr from Novosibirsk described the nightmare:
"I bought soil for 300 rubles - three days later the seedlings were covered with a white web. The lab said: it's a Fusarium fungus that got in with contaminated peat."
Scientists from the Russian Academy of Sciences conducted an experiment: in samples of store-bought soil they found lead, cadmium and mercury in concentrations that exceeded the norm by 5-12 times.
These heavy metals block the absorption of nutrients, and their accumulation in fruits is dangerous to health.
Solution? Prepare the mixture yourself: 3 parts disinfected garden soil (heat in the oven at 90°C for 30 minutes), 2 parts mature compost, 1 part river sand and 1 glass of ash per bucket.
Ash neutralizes acidity and kills pathogens. If you don't have time, pour boiling water over the store-bought soil, add trichodermin (antagonist fungus, sold in garden centers) and let it cool.
In 2023, Rospotrebnadzor confiscated 12 tons of soil of the "Harvest Bed" brand due to excess lead. Manufacturers rarely indicate the actual composition - their goal is to save money.
For example, instead of neutral peat, they use acidic peat, which destroys most crops. Olga from Rostov-on-Don shared in the Telegram chat:
"I bought soil for peppers - all the sprouts turned yellow. It turned out the pH was 3.5! Now I check with litmus strips."
Another trap is "universal" mixtures. They are too dense for seedlings: the roots suffocate without access to oxygen. Add perlite or vermiculite (30% of the volume) to improve the structure.
Remember: even expensive soil can be the killer of your seedlings. Don't be lazy and spend an hour on preparation - otherwise all your efforts will go down the drain.
As agronomist Igor Lyadov says:
"The earth is a living organism. If you do not control its quality, do not expect miracles."
