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Re: Bill's query to Janet re warming the soil

Janet Wintermute wrote:
> I understand that black plastic does help the soil warm up more >readily than
 clear or red plastic.

Well, you've really got me thinking now, Janet. I'm the guy who wrote
just the oposite. I have looked into solarizing the soil, tracking down
and reading many  articles, and there was total unanimity in the belief
that clear plastic warmed the soil more effectively than black plastic
... quicker and hotter. I'm not clued in on red plastic.

I hope that there is someone on this list who can settle this
authoritatively, as I solarize 2 or 3 of my six 4 X 20 ft beds every
year and should switch to black if it is the better way to go.

By the way, I have also heard that the black suppresses weeds more than
clear as you said. But my experience in solarizing has been that the
process generates so much heat that weeds are rarely a problem. Of
course that might not be the case when you are just heating up cold
soil for tomatos in the Spring and not approaching the temperatures
reached by solarization in July and August.

As to the warm water idea, I would speculate that it would help as a way
to 'kick start' the plastic heating process. Without the plastic to
continue to reheat the water it might not do much, but water is a much
better convector of heat than air, and, in solatizing, we strive to keep
the ground wet so as to get the heat to penetrate deeper into the soil.

This is a neat topic! I don't consider myself to be an expert. If we
have an expert or two lurking, please jump in and inform us.
        Ed Flynn

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