From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Many sites recommend clear plastic to solarization. I've used both black & clear. Problem I see with clear is it tends to act like a greenhouse and supercharge weeds where when I've used black plastic I do not get regrowth.

10/7/2017 11:57:33 AM

Deer Park, WI

The purpose of solarization is to create an environment so hot that it kills pathogens. Therefore, the goal is achieving as much trapped heat as possible.

I dont know if anyone has made any comparisons. In the absence of reliable data, the best thing to do is to try both and measure and compare the soil temps.

If solarization is working properly, weeeds should not be a problem because temps have reached a point where even the toughest weeds cannot tolerate. If weeds are thriving underneath clear plastic, your daily temps are not getting hot enough to have any positive effect on your soil.

10/7/2017 1:24:11 PM

The clear plastic has been down since May 2017. Its been very hot this summer. Where I've used black plastic, I do not have thriving weeds, they're dead & dying. Even using black plastic on garden beds from October to May has 'been the ticket'. Further proof is where the black plastic was used, no weeding needed done throughout the growing season.
So I know I've proved to myself black plastic is better.

10/8/2017 8:48:10 PM

Colorado

Black anything is good for weed control-its not gonna heat the soil up for a solarization benefit.

10/9/2017 11:52:00 AM

Central Illinois

I think Cliff Warren did an experiment last spring , I dont know his results but Ive always heard clear heats the soil hotter,black will kill some seeds and the existing plants seeds can sprout under black but then die . Clear will kill soil pathogens better.

10/10/2017 9:21:50 AM

Buffalo, MN (Billsbigpumpkins@hotmail.com)

If you install the clear plastic and seal all edges when the weather is the hot you will not have any weeds growing under it. It will heat the soil and burn off any seedlings. The sun will heat the black plastic not the soil, but seeing no light is getting to the plants they cannot grow for any length of time. Both can be used in the patch depending on where you live, I used clear plastic to do solarization but it didn’t get hot enough to kill any weeds seeds but did seem to kill some disease. My PB and best year followed. You can use black plastic to lay down ahead of your vines to keep the weeds down.

10/10/2017 10:59:34 AM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

Simple answer.. Greenhouse use black shade clothes to block the solar rays. Clear Green houses get hotter.

10/10/2017 7:03:39 PM

Anamosa, IA BPIowegian@aol.com

Black doesn't kill weeds by heat. It just kills them by eliminating the sun they need. If you have perennial weeds or sod, black plastic will kill without use of chemicals or tillage.

10/10/2017 8:19:58 PM

On a cliff in the desert

I've used blue plastic covers over my southern exposure egress windows to act as a greenhouse in the spring. Just make sure you water to keep your soil moist and not turn your seedling pots into mudpies or deserts. It worked well with all my seedling plants I had in my egress windows this past spring. I put plants into the egress windows about a month before it was warm enough to transplant them.

10/18/2017 12:22:08 AM