Re: Re: CULT Solarization & manure

From: "Donald Eaves" <donald@eastland.net>

Hello Folks,

My own experience with solarization has been a good one.  I prepared
a bed and threw just about everything into it (compost, shredded leaves,
alfalfa pellets, LOTS of bagged cow manure, some chemical fertilizer).
This was in May of '98.  I then laid a soaker hose over it and covered
the whole thing with UV plastic and left 'til Sept.  So it had plenty of
time to cook in our excessive heat.  It was in full sun and I ran the
soaker hose once or twice a week so the whole thing stayed damp.
I did another bed with the same amendments, but did not solarize for
a comparison.  The primary difference has been the friable quality of
the beds and the quantity of weeds appearing in the beds.  The
solarized bed has remained workable soil - no mean feat in the clay
I have here.  Also, weed seeds are still considerably less than in the
control bed.  Both beds were new ground, basically the red clay left
after removing a large quantity of rocks and then amended.  I can't
honestly say I could tell any difference in the way the irises grew in
the two beds.  Some did really well, others were so-so to not so good.
All were newly purchased cultivars.  I'm watching to see how long
that friable quality lasts.  It would be a time saver when reworking
existing beds if it proves to be permanent.

On the manure question, I wonder how much climate and soil types
effect the end result.  I use it freely in this area and haven't suffered
much rot. Of the three (out of more than two hundred cultivars) this
past year, at least one case was just stuck in soil with no amendments,
the other two had the manure added the season before.  Seems a
bit long to blame the manure.  Amendments don't stick around in the
soil here for long.  If they get added over a long enough period of time,
one can finally begin to see the results, but I'm talking years here.  It
is true that preparation of a bed usually takes a while, but occasionally
I have planted pretty quickly after finishing and other than not having
the soil settled well, haven't been able to discern any difference in
the reaction of the cultivars planted between a new bed or one that has
taken longer to prepare.  I wonder if it is water at the wrong time which
might cause adverse growing conditions? 

Donald Eaves
donald@eastland.net
Texas Zone 7


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