[James Kilkelly, was GPI.]

Solarize your soil, non-chemical weed and disease control.
by GPI

Solarizing your soil is one of the foremost non-chemical methods to rid soil from weeds, weed seeds and many diseases and pests. To solarize an area of soil it must be covered with a clear plastic cover or transparent film for 8-10 weeks. Sunlight through this cover will heat up the top 6 inches of soil to such a degree as to clear it of any number of irritations.

. Clear plastic laid for soil solarization , photo / pic / image.

Rules.

May, June, July and August are the best months of the year to carry out solarization, due to increased heat and sunlight. But I have found the process to be quite effective at most any time of the growing season.

Only use a transparent cover because coloured plastic will not heat the soil up sufficiently.

If you can at all, try to use one complete piece of plastic to prevent heat escaping when many overlapping sheets are used. Large sheets of clear plastic film can be purchased in farmer’s co-ops and hardware stores.

Use 1 to 2mm thick plastic/film.

If the area to be solarized is full of weeds and grass, you should cut these down as low as possible. Better still, pull or dig them out.

Ensure the area to be solarized is free of surface clods, stones, and sticks, which could puncture the covering.

Rake the surface of the soil to a smooth finish before covering it with the plastic.

Liberally moisten the surface of the soil with a hose, sprinkler or watering can before covering it.

Carefully lay the sheet of plastic film over the soil without puncturing it and being careful to avoid creating large air pockets.

Dig all edges of the cover into the soil to a depth of six inches. Some extra soil or a few bricks around the edges would also be helpful to retain the cover.

Leave the cover in place for a minimum of eight weeks, preferably ten. During this time if any leaves or other light blocking debris settle on the cover, you should brush them off.

After eight to ten weeks, you can remove the covering to expose a "clean slate" with which to work.

Be aware that only top six inches of soil has been purged when you solarize, so if you dig deeper you may occasionally bring troublesome weed seeds to the surface.

Any queries or comments on Solarize your soil, non-chemical weed and disease control., please post below.

[walltoall]

GPI
Purely by coincidence I came across a [Dr. Sunny] post about solarization and have just gone through it with a fine rake. That's a really cool article and lotsa people starting out with a virgin plot could usefully read it. I think new people to IrishGardeners.com have no idea how powerful the google search facility for this site is. I'm continually surprised. Thanks for all the work you put in too. It's easy to forget that behind every great facility there's a few guys putting in a hard slog.
W2W

[Sive]

Nicely put, walltowall, and I totally agree with you. Well done to all concerned.

[James Kilkelly, was GPI.]

Thanks for the kind words folks.
Placing a highlighter next to our powerful search is next for development.
What do you reckon, a flashing beacon perhaps.

[walltoall]

Here's a flashing beacon I use on one of my maritime sites. I've added it as an attachment but I can't guarantee the flash.