Re: CULT: Weed Control
From: John Montgomery <monashee@junction.net>
HIPSource@aol.com wrote:
>
> Because of the length of time necessary to effectively solarize an existing
> iris bed, certainly no less than six weeks at the peak of hot weather and
> proably more in less than optimum circumstances
My introduction to soil solarization was 10 or 12 years ago via a paper
from the Oregon State Univ. I do not have the paper at hand at the
moment but my experience here is that a couple of weeks under good
conditions will do the trick. "Good conditions" is more dependent on the
amount of insolation (that is 'SOL'. The amount of solar radiation to
which the soil is exposed is a function of how high the sun is in the
sky. In other words, two weeks of exposure near the solstice is more
effective than 6 weeks in Sept. I can vouch for this from personal
experience. A couple of years ago, out Sept temperatures were as high or
higher than they were in July, yet solarization for 6 weeks in late
summer-early fall was fairly useless in terms of weed control.
Actually, weed control is a side result from the main purpose which is
the eradication of pathogens from the soil. If you repeatedly plant the
same plants in a plot, you really should solarize, and throw away your
fungicides forever.
Get the top of the soil as smooth as you possibly can, give a deep
watering. Use thin clear poly (2 or 4 mil), seal it tightly.and hope
that dogs and cats don't tear holes in it
Incidentally we are at latitude 50+ degrees.
Cheers
John montgomery A glorious winter day -12C and a foot of fresh powder
snow
Vernon BC Zone 5.
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