Soil is free!!!!!!!!!!!!! yeah so is air and water!!! YOU can bake your compost or soil in the oven to sterilize it, The best soil comes from the earth believe it or not try that first.
Store bought Organic soil should be sterilized to reduce pests, like fungus gnats, and spider mites.
I take minor issue with baking soil..though its not nearly as bad as chemicals!
{NOTE:this rant is directed at no particualr individual! it's a systemic problem.}
REDI
I see people on RIU going batshit over friut flies, and other bugs. I wish I had a video microscope- I could be the steve irwin of the growroom! sure! I've got all kinds of bugs! my spiders need food! when nature is in balance, the vegetarians do not run the show...they're food for cryin' out loud! barring the occasional biblical horde of locust, pests can be controlled by: a) not freaking out about the insect world. b) not dousing with petrochemicals- if it kills bugs, that's not the only thing it's bad for! and then you're gonna' smoke it?!!! don't give me that 'rinsed off' crap! and then you've totally fubar-ed the web of life! way to go numbnuts! c) petrochemical fert's(BAD!).... the web of life is not connected by crazy glue! science has only begun scratching the surface of the ULTRA complex world of nature. living organisms produce enzymes, hormones, and other sructures developed over millions of years....there's no way that funk's or monsanto can cook up anything even remotely close... it just aint gonna' happen! if you have bug problems, you have other- more pressing problems...fix your head! "bugs" aren't bad- idiotic ways of viewing the world and living away from symbiosis- now THAT's bad! you take apart one of my peat pots, and you'll find: worms, wood roaches(pill bugs), earwigs, etc. ...above, each spider has its A.O.(area of operations)...and that's indoor. frit flies? sure... that's the spiders' fav' snack. my plants are very healthy because there's zero poison, the plant food is organic, and also 'cooked' in a compost pile. one or 2 leaves are left as snacks for the vegetarians(they'll leave the rest alone, and the predators have a convenient"watering hole" to ambush). if you have a well fed army, you won't have bug problems...or you can be an idiot, and buy into the dangerously foolish petro- chemical ideology that has destroyed our connection to nature, and poisoned 3 generations of man. you think I'm ranting? this is as serious as serious gets! you're either in or your out.