Soleraization

[Jamie Calloway]

Alright, so it has been 39 days since I put the plastic down and started my solarization project. I took a picture listed above on September 6th and as you could see the grass was already starting to rot.
So the original plan was to see if I could get the grass to die by solarization because I do not have any big machinery, and I needed to find a easier way to open the new ground. Well I didn't have anything else on the docket today so i decided I would pull up the plastic and take a look see. Here is the ground after 39 days of sun.

Well as you can see the grass is really rotting and comes up really easily when you run a rock rake through it. I think If I do it again later I will put sheets of plywood over the top of the plastic, you can see where there was a 2x8 I laid over the plastic to keep it from blowing off, it is severely rotting and grass is completely gone.
So since I bought my new Mantis Tiller like 3 months ago and have yet to use it I thought I would be her out and give her a run through the garden.

So I spent about 2 hours going through the garden with the Mantis chewing through dead grass and some very nice looking soil. I was amazed at how well that little 4 cycle motor worked, really the only issue I had was even though it has not rained in weeks the plastic trapped a ton of condensation and the ground was soaking wet. The Mantis does not do well with very wet ground, so I kept having to clean out the wheels and spikes of the machine, but other than that it worked great.
Here ate some pictures of the new open ground andbi have already started another solarization project just on the other side. I would highly recommend using this solarization method if you do not have a tractor or any big machinery, it really makes the work much more feasible.

 

[Greenhorn]

Great follow up, always appricated. I'm 50 - 50 with your plywood idea as I don't think the solarization will to the extant that it does with just the plastic, solarization is heating things up and the plywood will impead that. I do understand the plywood did seem as or more effective. Did you notice any difference at the deep root level between solarized and covered? Maybe solorization is just more economical than covering with a solid material, so more popular?

 

[Jamie Calloway]

Well where I laid the 2x8 across the plastic that grass was very black, wet and kind of gewy (for lack of a better word) . The soil there was very soft and turned over easily. All in all, I am very happy with the end result, I tilled down about 8 inches this morning and will try to get down deeper as the dirt dries out over the next week or so. Ill keep you posted.

 

[Jamie Calloway]

Look what I found not 10 yards from the new garden! This is going to save me a lot of time and money not having to run pvc under ground, today was a good day.

 

[Purrfluff]

Thanks for the update. I assume the solerization killed weeds as well as grass?

 

[Jamie Calloway]

Well @Purrfluff it definitely killed the grass, almost made it kinda soupy. It did kill a lot of weeds in the process but I am still dealing with some, especially the wild onions that my yard seems to be full of. I am a lot better off using the solarization then I would have been. I am at a huge disadvantage not having in big machinery but with the solarization and my Mantis Tiller I feel like I have a pretty good going.
So what I am working on now is fencing around the garden. Last year I tried a garden that had been really overgrown but had a 7 foot fence all the way around it. I don't have the money to buy new fencing and posts so I am attempting to recycle the old fence. The proicess is coming along although very slow, the issue is the fence has a lot of vines and small saplings that have grown up, around and through the fence which is slowing me down a bit. Two weekends ago I took my chainsaw and a pair of metal cutters out there and was able to get two stretches of fence that will stretch out both long sides of the garden. There is also a gate that is still in pretty good shape that I will use. I have already moved the compost box over there.
I still have to take the plastic off the second section so I can get it rilled up and hopefully ready to go for maybe early summer. Definitely finding that water spicket was a game changer. I'll start taking some pictures when I have all the materials and start erecting the recycled fence.
By the way I was thinking about purchasing something like this and run 4 soaker hoses throughout my rows.

 

[Jamie Calloway]

Thought I would send out another update on the garden (in works). Today I started on the process of putting up the fence. Because I have several deer that visit throughout the night and early mornings. I have to have some kind of fence around the garden to hopefully detier them from mowing down my vegetables. I also have to say that I didn't really have a large budget for this so I had to recycle the fencing material from the old garden in the back. Cutting down the old fence was a pain in the butt because there were alot of saplings and vines that had grown through the fence. I am expecting to have to redo the fence in about three years, maybe by then I can spend more money on it and do it the right way, as for now what I have will just have to work. Thanks for reading.

 

[Daren]

Hi Jamie Just wanted to say Its all looking great. Are you making plans on what you will be Growing?......This is a great time to start thinking about varieties And even getting a few seed packets on Order Soon. Will you be running the Tiller over it again soon?........If you find a few more horsepower in that machine you could be going through it in know time

 

[Jamie Calloway]

@Daren, you don't know what I would do to have a tiller like that one. To answer your question, the wife and I went through the catalog just the other day and picked out our seed packets. We will be growing sweet corn, Bush beans, cherry tomatoes, beef steak tomatoes, onions, cucumbers and I am going to try a little area of watermelons and a patch of strawberries. These will be for the spring and summer. For the fall we will have carrots, lettuce, broccoli and cauliflower. Also after I harvest the fall crop I am planning on putting in red top clovers For the off season. I have two 20x25 feet sections, so my plan is to alternate them between summer and fall. I will probably have to till both plots a few more times before planting but I am doing some reserach and am finding that you really shouldnt use a tiller much after your first planting season. Something about the tunnels that the rooits make are beneficial to later crops for finding water and building deeper roots. I looked up broadfork which is what many people suggest instead of a tiller, but man they are expensive. I am super excited about the potential of having a good crop this year, especially after last years debacle. I hope in can say that last year was a educational year and should get better and better as I learn more. The one last thing I need to do still is to drop off a sample of my soil to our county extension and see where I sit there and I bought a soil ph test kit that I still need to use.

 

[DirtMechanic]

First I am using this;
https://humagro.com/promax

And if that is not good enough I am going to use this the following season.
http://www.amvac-chemical.com/Product-Details/pid/221

I would love to hear how solarization has worked for you over time OP but from what I am learrning about verticillium and the other nasties I am going to have to go dow 30cm / 12 inches which given my 6 inch depth tiller is going to be a sweaty challenge. I do not believe the 140f pastuerization temp will get down that far. I have heard that anaerobic composting using the plastic is a good way to improve the soil pathogen level, so there is also still that card to play.

 

[Jamie Calloway]

Garden is finished!!! @DirtMechanic I can honestly say now that it is all over that the solarization on my first plot worked great, but the second one much later in the year did not work as well. I chalk this up to heat, the first plot I had with plastic was a little earlier in the year and we had much higher temps at that time. The grass after a couple of months had almost turned to a slime matter and after lifting the tarp and letting the land dry out a bit it was easy to turn the soil over. The second plot was done later and did not fair as well. The grass was still dying off but at a much slower rate. It definitely took a lot more work. In saying all that I would do it again in a heartbeat. Because I do not own any heavy equipment I need every advantage I can get and using the plastic was helpful all around. I have not had a massive explosion of weeds in the first plot although I have tilled it about 4 times now. I have to wait and see about the second one since I just turned it over. I think starting this application in early summer it could be a very big advantage to anybody wanting to open a new plot of grass for gardening.

 

[DirtMechanic]

And here we diverge, the new plot versus my old plot of almost 20 years now. Its really different in so many ways, that being your first crops will not have attracted any fungal gangsters. But that time might come, and the process by which to renovate the soil back to the pristine state you are about to enjoy is a subject that has my full attention these days.

 

[GardenStateGardner]

Minimal effort and excellent results. And someone said this method is stupid. Geez.

 

[Jamie Calloway]

@GardenStateGardner
Dilly Dilly

 

[DirtMechanic]

@GardenStateGardner I promise you results are different inasmuch as sheer size and humid environs effect pathogen pressure. Its not so much that it works, but rather for how long as in bringing home a crop. Here in the lower transition zone, we suffer mightly.