User:GreatSmokyMountains/sandbox

Soil Solarization is a non-chemical environmentally friendly method of using solar heating to increase the soil temperature to levels at which many soil-borne plant pathogens will be killed or greatly weakened. Soil solarization is used on a relatively small scare and gardens for plant pathogens one a small scare including fungi, bacteria nematodes, and insect and mite pests; along with weed seed and seedlings in the soil by mulching the soil and covering it with tarp, usually with a transparent polyethylene cover, to trap solar energy. Soil solarization is dependent upon time, temperature, and soil moisture. It may also describe methods of decontaminating and suppress soil s using sunlight or solar power. This energy causes physical, chemical, and biological changes in the soil community.

Soil disinfection
Soil solarization is a hydrothermal process of disinfecting the soil of pests accomplished through solar power (referred to as solar heating of the soil in early publications) is a relatively new soil disinfestation method, first described in extensive scientific detail by Katan et al. in 1976. The mode of action for soil solarization is complex and involves the use of heat as a lethal agent for soil pests from the use of transparent polyethylene tarps. To increase the effectiveness of solar heating requires optimal seasonal temperatures, mulching during high temperatures and solar irradiation, and moisture soil conditions. Soil temperatures are lower when decreasing in soil depth and it is important to continue the mulching process to control for pathogens. soil solarization practices requires soil temperatures reach 35-60 degrees Celsius, which kills pathogens at the top 30 centimeters of soil. Solarization does not sterilize the soil completely; the method enhances the soil towards promoting beneficial microorganism. Soil solarization creates a beneficial microbe community by killing up to 90% of pathogens. More specifically a study reported after 8 days of solarization 100% of V. dabliae (a fungi that causes farm crops to wilt and die) was killed at a depth of 25 centimeters. Soil solarization does causes a decrease in beneficial microbes, however beneficial bacteria like Bacillus spp. are able to survive and flourish under high temperatures in solarized soils. Other studies have also reported an increase in Trichoderma harzianum (fungicide) after solarization. This information suggests that solarization causes favorable environment for the colonization by beneficial microbes with greater competitive ability. The number of beneficial microbes increases over time and make solarized soils more resistant to pathogens. The success of solarization is not only due to the decrease in soil pathogens, but also to the increase in beneficial microbes such as Bacillus spp., Pseudomonas spp., and Talaromyces flavus. Soil solarization has been shown to suppress soil pathogens and cause an increase in plant growth. Suppressed soils promote rhizobacteria and have show to increase total dry weight in sugar beets by 3.5 times. Also the study showed that PGPR on sugar beets treated with soil solarization increased root density by 4.7 times. Soil solarization is an important agricultural practice for ecologically friendly soil pathogen suppression. More needs to be done in the realm of identifying the functions of individual species within each genera, and how they interact with each other to promote plant growth.