What is soil solarization?
CORVALLIS – Over the past few years, agricultural scientists at Oregon State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in Corvallis have been experimenting with a simple, non-chemical means of combating plant diseases and weeds called “soil solarization.” Researchers are finding that soil solarization reduces populations of soil pathogens such as Verticillium wilt, crown gall, root-lesion nematode and Phytophora root rots to a depth of almost a foot under the soil surface, explained Jack Pinkerton, plant pathologist with the USDA in Corvallis. They also are seeing that solarization decreases weeds and other pests, some species more than others. Soil solarization is a fancy term for the simple process of putting transparent plastic sheeting over tilled soil during the warmest and sunniest two months of the year. Soil solarization is easy to do in your home garden. The plastic traps the heat of the sun. Under plastic sheeting, the top few inches of soil can be as much as 2
