Solarisation

[cooked]

http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/soil-solarization

Anybody tried this? Looks promising. My wife told me that in the past when they had problems will soil borne disease they would cultivate the ground and leave it exposed to the sun. Took a great deal of googling around until I got to the term 'solarisation'. I am going to try it with plastic, buried 15 cm into the ground. Lost too many egg plants, tomatoes and even chillies.

[troysantos]

I realize that people have been killing bacteria and fungi in the soil for umpteen decades (I actually have no idea how long!). But, take a look at this and maybe you'll reconsider.

www dot youtube.com/watch?v=GEtl09VZiSU

Just take a look at the home page and see what you think. www dot soilfoodweb.com

Instead of killing the microorganisms in the soil, create the conditions for a healthy equilibrium of "good" and "bad" bacteria, fungi, nematodes, and the other soil critters (as well as the characters that live on and above soil) depicted in the home page of the link just above. Ask yourself which makes more sense to you.

Instead of taking a piecemeal approach to the "managing" the soil (and life for that matter), look at the soil as an ecosystem. Under proper conditions, what we grow will thrive.

Ever heard of Masanobu Fukuoka's One Straw Revolution? An awesome book for a new (40 years since the book was published!) perception of farming, and of life. Also, take a look on the internet for permaculture. Another amazing approach to life, with a particular emphasis on farming.

[cooked]

I realize that people have been killing bacteria and fungi in the soil for umpteen decades (I actually have no idea how long!). But, take a look at this and maybe you'll reconsider.

www dot youtube.com/watch?v=GEtl09VZiSU

Just take a look at the home page and see what you think. www dot soilfoodweb.com

Instead of killing the microorganisms in the soil, create the conditions for a healthy equilibrium of "good" and "bad" bacteria, fungi, nematodes, and the other soil critters (as well as the characters that live on and above soil) depicted in the home page of the link just above. Ask yourself which makes more sense to you.

Instead of taking a piecemeal approach to the "managing" the soil (and life for that matter), look at the soil as an ecosystem. Under proper conditions, what we grow will thrive.

Ever heard of Masanobu Fukuoka's One Straw Revolution? An awesome book for a new (40 years since the book was published!) perception of farming, and of life. Also, take a look on the internet for permaculture. Another amazing approach to life, with a particular emphasis on farming.

Well according to the link I gave, the evil micro-organisms get killed off more effectively than the good guys. If the soil is in a happy state then all the micro-organisms will return very quickly, people used to kill worms in the past and they returned very quickly indeed. I will look at your links though, thanks. I have been fighting to turn what was essentially brick makers' clay into a garden soil and am slowly succeeding, I am not looking to sterilise the soil, if I wanted to do that I know what chemicals to purchase.

[quidnunc]

I realize that people have been killing bacteria and fungi in the soil for umpteen decades (I actually have no idea how long!). But, take a look at this and maybe you'll reconsider.

www dot youtube.com/watch?v=GEtl09VZiSU

Just take a look at the home page and see what you think. www dot soilfoodweb.com

Instead of killing the microorganisms in the soil, create the conditions for a healthy equilibrium of "good" and "bad" bacteria, fungi, nematodes, and the other soil critters (as well as the characters that live on and above soil) depicted in the home page of the link just above. Ask yourself which makes more sense to you.

Instead of taking a piecemeal approach to the "managing" the soil (and life for that matter), look at the soil as an ecosystem. Under proper conditions, what we grow will thrive.

Ever heard of Masanobu Fukuoka's One Straw Revolution? An awesome book for a new (40 years since the book was published!) perception of farming, and of life. Also, take a look on the internet for permaculture. Another amazing approach to life, with a particular emphasis on farming.

Well according to the link I gave, the evil micro-organisms get killed off more effectively than the good guys. If the soil is in a happy state then all the micro-organisms will return very quickly, people used to kill worms in the past and they returned very quickly indeed. I will look at your links though, thanks. I have been fighting to turn what was essentially brick makers' clay into a garden soil and am slowly succeeding, I am not looking to sterilise the soil, if I wanted to do that I know what chemicals to purchase.

Have you tried making or buying compost. There's a big station in Chiang Mai that makes organic compost. I think there's a sister station somewhere in Isan.

[cooked]

BUY compost? Never done that in my life, we always have some on the go. The problem is that I can't sterilise it and pathogens as well as weed seeds tend to survive the process.