[gardeners] soil solar
Byron.Bromley (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Thu, 18 Mar 1999 08:06:23 -0500
George
Soil solarization may work below the Mason Dixon Line but
I can't make it work here. I would be glad to hear of any good ideas..
But. The third previous El-Niņo I had root-knot nematodes. One method
for control was soil solarization. The way I understood it, the soil temp
must get above 160F for this to work, The best I got was on a 100F day
under black plastic was 105F. The next year I put some fresh horse
manure, in a black plastic barrel, covered the top of the barrel with black
plastic, stuck a compost thermometer in the pile. I got 127F. the temp
of the horse manure as a max. Then some said "Oh you got to keep it
wet" Tried again next year, same thing. Then some said "You need clear
plastic" Tried again the next year, not any difference I could see.
Using black plastic to control weeds, It may not do the heat, but the
lack if sunlight for germination and growth may do the trick
There's a lot of little used black barrel composters around here for sale
or just sitting behind the barn .