Solarization also eliminates some soil diseases, including Verticillium wilt, Phytophthora root rot, Fusarium wilt, damping-off, crown gall, tomato canker, and potato scab, allowing healthy plants and ...

Soil solarization is a surprisingly simple organic gardening technique that uses heat generated by the sun to kill pests, pathogens, and weed seeds. All you need is some clear plastic sheeting and ...

As some summer crops are beginning to wind down, now is the time to consider what's next. There is still plenty of time to get that second planting of squash, beans and even tomatoes in the ground. If ...

Solar-powered pest control? That's part of what soil solarization is about. It's a fairly low-tech way of using the sun's energy to destroy pathogens and weeds in soil. But soil scientists say that's ...

Why is Christian Science in our name? Our name is about honesty. The Monitor is owned by The Christian Science Church, and we’ve always been transparent about that. The Church publishes the Monitor ...

Dear readers: Last week, I talked about my failure to raise healthy heirloom tomatoes in 2016. They were disease-riddled. Next year, I vow to do better. One of the ways to lower disease resident in ...

It’s time once again for the annual pitch for soil solarization as a non-chemical cure-all for many common garden problems. Solarization captures the heat from the sun’s rays to heat the top 2 inches ...

Note: This article was originally published in this newspaper in 2011. Is there an area in your garden where you are battling noxious weeds or other invasive plants? If so, soil solarization is a ...

Soil solarization is a powerful tool in the organic arsenal—but can you solarize a bed that has a tree in the middle?! On the latest You Bet Your Garden, Mike McGrath discusses how you can—and ...

In last week’s column, I discussed the effectiveness of soil solarization in killing weed seeds and underground root systems (Bermuda grass) and its ability to seriously reduce populations of ...