“Radiant energy from the sun, the basis of life on Earth, can be captured and amplified by home gardeners for use as a soil pest-control tool.
In a simple technique called soil solarization, gardeners lay a clear plastic tarp atop garden soil, concentrating the sun’s energy in the top 12 to 18 inches.
The heat trapped below the plastic can reach highs of 140°F in the top 6 inches, killing weed seeds, insects, nematodes, and many fungal and bacterial pathogens, including those that cause verticillium wilt, fusarium wilt, potato scab, damping off, crown gall disease, and phytophthora root rot.
The beneficial effects from solarization are greatest near the soil surface and decrease with depth…
