Solarize: Kill Disease and Weeds, Improve Yields

We used to believe that certain plant disease pathogens lived in the soil and could not be eliminated. Pestilence like verticillium wilt fusarium wilt were believed to be with us and just had to be tolerated. In the past ten years, some enterprising Israelis came up with solarizing. It is an excellent way to kill weeds, fungus, and general pests that live in your soil. It is all natural and requires no chemicals. Solarizing has been tested at universities across the US and by extension programs all over the country. It must become part of your arsenal in developing and maintaining the healthiest garden on your street, in your county…you get the idea. You want to feed people healthy food. What is healthier than chemical free pest control? How does it work?

The process produces lots of high heat and humidity in the soil which pasteurizes the soil destroying all the pestilence contained there. It rids your plot of harmful bacteria, fungi, many nematodes, almost all insect larvae, and the weed seeds near the surface of your soil. Testing has shown solarization to be effective against the verticillium wilt in tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplant. It whacks fusarium wilt in your tomatoes and onions. Solarizing also eliminates rhizoctonia in potatoes and onions and nematodes that attack your potatoes and other crops. Unbelievable isn’t it? Testing has shown all of these benefits and more.

Solarizing also helps your soil produce healthy strong plants. Solarized beds have been documented to produce greater yields after the process is complete. It seems that the bad juju is eliminated and the good organisms survive and thrive. Fungi that play a role in nutrient utilization survive the heating process. Very Cool!

Now that you know what solarizing can do for you, how do you do it? The best time to solarize is in July and August when days are long and hot. Solarizing your bed is very straightforward. Loosen the top one foot of your bed with a fork, digger, tiller, or your bare hands (probably want to avoid that last one). Late in the day, water the soil until it is soaking wet (much wetter than a regular watering of your garden). The next day, cover the bed with plastic. Use clear film that is three (3) to six (6) mils thick. Do not use black plastic. Black plastic will not work. Use clear film. Cover the edges of the film with soil and wait four (4) to six (6) weeks. If it rains during the period of waiting, sweep the water off the top of the plastic with a broom. Do not put holes in the plastic as this will let the heat escape.

After you are done solarizing, you can plant a late fall crop. Don’t disturb your soil much. While the weed seeds at the top have been offed, the ones six or more inches down may not all be dead. It looks like you can expect the effects of solarizing to last for four or so years as long as you practice good soil and garden management. Strike back the the disease and weeds in your organic vegetable garden, solarize your beds this year!

15 Steps for Disease Prevention in Your Garden

You have fewer tools for fighting diseases in your garden than for eliminating pests. You get a pest, you pick it off, hit it with insecticidal soap, go after it with natural elimination methods. With diseases, in many instances, your best bet is to to destroy the individual diseased plant. There are very few practical and effective methods to control of plant disease on an individual plant; however, removal of the diseased plant is effective control for your garden as an entirety.

Your first step in disease control is being able to recognize the disease and determine the identity of the pestilence. Always keep in mind that many fungal problems are not fatal and do not harm the production of the plant. Don’t panic at the first sight of yellow spots or a single yellow leaf on your plant. Look at the overall health of the plant. If it looks hearty and vigorous, let it sit for a spell. If your plant is withering and deteriorating very rapidly, you have a viral of bacterial pestilence and the plant should be destroyed.

In order to control disease in your garden, you must spend time with your garden. Look at your plants and notice changes in their appearance. Most problems with your plants will be caused by insects and not diseases. By doing research, paying attention, and gaining experience, you will learn the difference. Unfortunately, experience is another word for dying plants. I was listening to the radio the other day and the host of the garden show opined that you are not a gardener until you have killed a hundred plants. That is how you gain experience. So don’t worry, don’t be afraid, and start growing.

Unfortunately, not every disease has a unique set of symptoms. Many symptoms are causes by more than on plant plant disease. In any event, plant diseases can be divided into five broad categories: environmental, fungal, bacterial, viral, and nematode. The insidious diseases make things difficult for you because the symptoms that you see cannot be easily segregated by category. You will learn to distinguish between the diseases because some are more common than others and your experience from previous years will inform your response to the outbreak. You won’t get the necessary experience unless you get started. So while there is some overlap in the symptoms from the categories, don’t worry about it too much. Each type of pestilence mentioned above can be recognized by is symptom set.

If you are just getting started gardening, look to be beset by environmental diseases first. Those will be followed by fungal diseases. Bacterial, viral, and nematode disease are the least frequent visitors to your little plot of heaven.

Symptom identification is the most important step in combating plant disease in your garden. You have to recognize the symptom in order to diagnose and treat the problem. A common disease symptom that you should look for is yellowing of the leaves. Make sure that you observe which leaves are yellowing: all of them, just the young ones, leaf edges, between the veins of the leaf, old leaves only, irregular spots on the leaves, round spots on the leaves, dots, or mosaic patterns. Next check for brown areas on your leaves: the edges, the tips, brown spots on all leaves, brown sections on the leaves, or brown on the edge and in the middle. The other symptoms to look for are water soaked appearance, greasy appearance, plant mysteriously and unexpectedly up and dies, rotten leaves, rotten fruit, abnormal growth, wilting plant, and defoliation. In order to protect your plants from disease, you have to spend time with them. Get out in your garden and get your hands dirty.

While this article is too short to provide specific detail on on all diseases and their prevention and treatment, I can provide you with fifteen steps to help prevent disease in your garden plot. Remember that an ounce of prevention is a pound of cure. In order to have the healthiest garden possible, you should 1) build healthy soil, 2) use compost, 3)Plant disease resistant varieties of your plants, 4) Rotate your crops, 5) Use foliar spray, 6) Use Mulch, 7) Get rid of the transmission method, Water plants before noon, 9)Properly clean out your garden in the fall, 10) Sterilize your soil with solarization, 11) Use drip irrigation to prevent fungal infestation, 12) Keep your tools clean, 13) In order to avoid fungal disease spread, don’t work with your plants when they are wet, 14) Mow under your fruit trees and remove the clippings and fruit tree leaves to the compost pile, 15) Go outside, pay attention to your plants, garden, gain experience, and keep a garden journal!

If you have any tips, I’d love to hear from you!