Solarisation (Solarization)

[NeilfrazermParticipant]

Hi everyone,
I am seeking opinions as to whether this has any disadvantages for ‘no dig’ methodology.
I would like to try it to kill off rust problems, but before I invest in the polythene I respectfully request if anyone has had experience of dealing with pathogens in this way. I was thinking of 4 weeks after lifting alliums and before planting Winter crops…

How To Solarize Garden Beds To Eliminate Garden Pests In The Soil

BR
Neil SE London, 1st yr no-dig.

[PaulParticipant]

If if gets that hot!and wipes out all of the nasties,what about all the good fungi and worms etc.It sounds like the atibiotic answer for soil,as in it might be good if you have a serious problem ie life threatening.When you take antibiotics they wipe out all of our good antibodies as well.Just a thought..

[charlesModerator]

I agree with Paul that it may not be friendly to organisms such as fungi.
It is most used in countries with hot summers such as Israel, where veg are grown intensively, and in a UK summer the temperatures will be lower, mostly.
However if you have say persistent white rot of alliums, the pros may outweigh the cons.

[NeilfrazermParticipant]

Thanks for your thoughts folks. yes, I do have problems with some allium pathogens so I propose trialling one bed as follows:
1) cover to sterilise soil.
2) top dress with composted manure and work into previous top 2″ compost layer… (to be completed in the evening to let worms etc settle during the night).
3) repopulate the bed with plug plants to allow the beneficial fungii develop with the introduced plants OR sow some green manure…
4) treat with Agralan Revive to repopulate beneficial bacteria.
Thoughts?

I’ve done a bit more research and the best article / web-site was the first link published at http://ucanr.edu/sites/Solarization/Publications/
BR
Neil

[Author]

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