- Author: Margaret Gullette Lloyd
- Re-posted by: Gale Perez
From the Small and Organic Farm Advisor Blog
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The Heat is On: Soil Solarization
The days are long and the temperatures are high. This is a great time to solarize the soil in the Central Valley as a way to manage annual weeds and improve the growth of fall crops.
What is solarization?
A non-chemical approach to weed control, soilborne pest management and soil enhancement using solar heating of plastic-covered moist soil. This method allows the sun's radiant energy to be trapped in the soil thereby...
- Author: Cheryl A. Wilen
Welcome to summer! Or at least I think it's summer since southern California is having a very strong “June Gloom” period that started before June and has touched July. You folks up north have had some pretty hot days though. That got me to thinking about solarization – the non-chemical process where soil is heated to a temperature that kills weed seeds (in this case) – by using the sun's energy.
Solarization is effective for controlling a number of different weeds species and on the surface (no pun intended), it's a pretty simple technique. Make the area smooth, wet it up, cover with clear plastic (be sure to tuck it in on the edges), and walk away for 4 weeks. It's also something that can be done...
- Author: Clyde L Elmore
You say, it is a little late in the summer to be talking about using soil solarization for weed control because it works best in the summer when the days are long with high temperatures. Maybe we can learn some things from past situations where control has been marginal or poor.
I have seen some locations where results could have been more dramatic, if instructions were followed more closely (Figure 1). Most of the pertinent information for successful solarization can be obtained from the UC IPM Online called Soil Solarization for Gardens and Landscapes or the publication Soil...
- Author: Carl E. Bell
- Posted by: Gale Perez
If you have a site, especially a remote site with invasive plants, in particular infested with hard to eradicate invasive plants like veldtgrass or perennial pepperweed, you can't just cut or treat the plants and leave them in the field to rot. You often have to gather them up in trash bags, carry them out of the area, put them in a dumpster or haul them to a landfill. Seems like there should be a better way, right? What if you could treat plant propagative material (seed or vegetative organs like rhizomes or tubers) in the field and leave the refuse there?
Several years ago my colleague Dr. James Stapleton, UC IPM Plant Pathologist at the Kearney...
- Author: Pamela M. Geisel
One of the biggest challenges to growing a vegetable garden in a non-raisedbed situation can be the weeds. The can make the garden unsightly, compete with the vegetable plants you really want and make you feel overwhelmed in trying to manage them. Here is your five step plan to a better garden with fewer weeds:
Step one: Control existing weeds. If your garden has any weeds, you first need to take care of them prior to doing anything (except planning). You have a couple of options. You may rototill your garden to dig under existing weeds or you can spray out the garden with a non-selective herbicide such as glyphosate (Round-up). ...