Skip to main content
ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #87243
Title: AN EVALUATION OF IMPROVED POLYETHYLENE FILMS FOR COOL-SEASON SOIL SOLARIZATION

Author
item Chase, Carlene
item Sinclair, Thomas
item LOCASCIO, SALVADORE - UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
item DICKSON, DONALD - UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
item GILREATH, JAMES - UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
item JONES, JOHN - UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

Submitted to: Proceedings of Florida State Horticultural Society
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/8/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Methyl bromide has been an essential preplant soil fumigant for vegetable and fruit production in Florida. The use of methyl bromide is, however, scheduled to be banned because of its putative destruction of atmospheric ozone. There is considerable need to develop alternative methods to be used to control pests in vegetable production. USDA, Agricultural Research Service scientists in Gainesville, FL have been investigating the possibility of sanitizing soil by soil heating resulting from the installation of clear, heat-conserving plastics on planting beds several weeks prior to transplanting the crop. This management scheme is commonly referred to as soil solarization. While soil solarization has been shown to work well to suppress weed growth when installed in summer months in Florida, it was unknown how soil solarization would work during the winter months preceding a spring vegetable crop. Three experiments were undertaken to test various heat-conserving films, durations of solarization, and combining soil solarization with chemical fumigants. Unfortunately, no soil solarization treatment resulted in sufficiently high temperatures to be lethal to weed growth in the planting beds for spring vegetable production.

Technical Abstract: In Gainesville FL, in the Spring of 1996, a 150 um (6 mil) infrared-absorbing (IR) thermal film overlying bubble film resulted in higher maximum and minimum soil temperatures than a 20 um (0.8 mil) clear low density polyethylene (LDPE) film. In the Spring of 1997, soil solarization experiments were conducted in Bradenton and Gainesville. At Bradenton, 100 um-thick IR film was installed on 19 December 1996, 2 January 1997 and 17 January 1997 to give durations of 5, 7 and 9 weeks of solarization. UV-stabilized bubble film was also installed for the 9 week duration only. An 8-week solarization period was initiated at Gainesville on 23 January 1997 and included the following polyethylene films: 50 (2 mil), 75 (3 mil) and 100 um-thick (4 mil) IR film, UV-stabilized bubble film, black film and a 19 um-thick (0.75 mil) clear high density polyethylene (HDPE) film. The specialty films increased soil temperatures during cool-season solarization at both sites. However, lethal temperatures were not achieved by any solarization treatment as indicated by the emergence of annual weeds that are commonly controlled by summer solarization. The results of winter solarization at two Florida sites were not encouraging for use of soil solarization for weed control-in cool-season crop production.