SOIL SOLARIZATION IN GREENHOUSE: EFFECTS ON TOMATO CROP

This research, carried out under the conditions of a Mediterranean climate, considered the effects of soil solarization with PE or PVC film for 40, 50 or 60 days during the summer season.

The effects were compared with those recorded on untreated soil or fumigated with methyl bromide (80 g/m²) and were evaluated by means of soil temperature variations, root-knot nematode attacks and the yield level of the two tomato hybrids (nematode resistant "F₁ Turquesa" and susceptible "F₁ Vemone").

The gain in soil temperature level in mulched soil was about 10°C at 15–30 cm depth; temperatures in soil covered with PVC film were only slightly higher than with PE film.

The nematode attacks were reduced by solarization to a varying extent for each hybrid.

The plants grown in solarized soil gave higher yields than those achieved in untreated soil and equal to those obtained in fumigated soil.
The yield level was not always related to the degree of root infection.
This result demonstrates that solarization could act not only in reducing root attacks by nematodes but also in modifying other soil conditions.

III International Symposium on Protected Cultivation in Mild Winter Climates

G. Noto

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1994.357.20