Louisiana's extraordinary summer heat has at least one upside: It can help control soilborne pests in the vegetable garden.

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 ...

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 ...

Soil solarization is most effective in the hottest summer months that are just ahead of us. Soil solarization uses the heat from the sun’s rays to essentially bake the soil to a temperature of up to ...

After you remove the soil solarization plastic, plant a cover crop such as fava bean or leave the plastic on until spring. Or plant crops and use the plastic sheeting as mulch. Just cut small Xs in ...

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 ...

Home gardeners who place the same plants in the same location each year will ultimately experience fungal and bacterial disease buildup, as well as insects and other pest problems. Many have no choice ...

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 ...

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 ...