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Title: HEAT-RETENTIVE FILMS FOR INCREASING SOIL TEMPERATURES DURING SOLARIZATION IN A HUMID, CLOUDY ENVIRONMENT

Author
item Chase, Carlene
item Sinclair, Thomas
item Chellemi, Daniel
item OLSON, S. - UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
item GILREATH, J. - UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
item LOCASCIO, S. - UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

Submitted to: Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/22/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Scientists with the USDA, Agricultural Research Service 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 the planting of the crop. This management scheme, commonly referred to as soil solarization, can control many soilborne pests. High rainfall and cloud cover coincide with the hottest months during which solarization is performed. A heat-conserving solarization film promoted higher soil temperatures than conventional low density plastic films even under adverse weather conditions.

Technical Abstract: Soil solarization was conducted in Summer 1996 at Quincy, Gainesville, and Bradenton in north, north central, and west central FL, respectively, to evaluate whether polyethylene films with properties of improved heat conservation could increase soil solarization temperatures under humid environmental conditions. Soil temperatures at 5, 10, and 15 cm soil depths were higher with clear solarization films than with black polyethylene. A thermal-infrared absorbing film (TIR) was found to be more effective at increasing soil temperature than a double-layered bubble film or a 30 m clear polyethylene film. Rainfall depressed soil temperatures under all film types. Soil temperatures remained highest under TIR films. On cloudy days with light rainfall, TIR films resulted in temperatures exceeding 45 C at 5-cm depth. Soil temperatures were almost independent of those of the previous day with rapid recovery in soil temperatures on a clear day following a rainy one. At Bradenton where the soil was subsurface irrigated, the maximum soil temperatures were not as high as those at Quincy and Gainesville, except with the TIR film. Cumulative exposure to temperatures greater than or equal to 45 C and greater than or equal to 50 C was greatest with the TIR film than with the other solarization films, indicating that it has the greatest potential for soil solarization in humid climates.