Re: CULT: solarization, rot

Walter Moores wondered:
<< I am wondering if Linda Mann's idea of torching a bed when it is
dry in Sept or Oct.  might be similar to solarization.>>

As an ex tobacco farmer (ack!), I know a bit about using 'far' (fire) to
sterilize soil.  This used to be standard practice around here for preparing
a seed bed for burley tobacco seedlings.  It takes a humongous pile of brush
to heat soil to any depth..   Of course, that is in February, when the ground
is a tad colder than early fall.  

If you got a row of iris plants that hot, they would be cooked.  So the idea
in burning off the beds was to burn off the dead and potentially disease
infested foliage to keep it from harboring pests over the winter.

Still not much rot out there - a leaf here and there.  Lots of vigorous new
growth.  Some horrendous stench from a dead possum that my dear dog planted
for me without my knowing it.  When I smelled that, I thought the rot
outbreak was here for sure!  : )

My suppliers of plants have done a good job in helping select varieties for
me that can take all this rain.  I am going to have the luxury this year of
getting rid of some that I just don't like very much, and some that can't
take the late freezes.  Not many holes in the rows.

Linda Mann
lmann76543@aol.com east Tennessee USA, zone 7/8
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