Weed seed inactivation in soil mesocosms via biosolarization with mature compost and tomato processing waste amendments

Abstract

The composition and concentration of organic matter amendments in soil significantly affected volatile fatty acid accumulation at various soil depths during biosolarization. Combining solar heating with organic matter amendment resulted in accelerated weed seed inactivation compared with either approach alone. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

Effect of management of organic wastes on inactivation of Brassica nigra and Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lactucae using soil biosolarization

“…BN weed seed packets were removed from the mesocosms and RT samples after 8 days of treatment. Germination percentages for each sample were determined after incubation in Petri dishes in a growth chamber for 14 days on a cycle of 8 h at 20 °C in darkness and 16 h at 30 °C in light . After 14 days, all non‐germinated seeds with intact seed coats were evaluated for viability by tetrazolium staining to differentiate dead seeds from dormant seeds .…”

“…This last mechanism is directly related to anaerobic soil disinfestation (ASD). In SBS, the combined action of heat and VFA accumulation has shown promising effects in the control of different pests . However, there is still a lack of information on the role of VFAs in inactivating different pests.…”

“…For example, application of organic amendment previously stabilized via anaerobic digestion (AD) did not release significant amounts of VFAs during SBS . Alternately, non‐stabilized amendments, such as tomato pomace or wheat bran, led to greater changes in soil temperature, soil acidification, and VFA accumulation . Stabilizing organic wastes prior to their soil application is common practice to avoid potential issues such as phytotoxicity or human pathogen contamination .…”

Assessment of Two Solid Anaerobic Digestate Soil Amendments for Effects on Soil Quality and Biosolarization Efficacy

“…After biosolarization, weed seed packets were removed from the mesocosms, and the weed seed inactivation was analyzed by measuring germination and uptake of tetrazolium chloride vital dye as previously described. 19 Stability Measurements. The stability of the digestates in the soil was determined by measuring microbial respiration in amended soils.…”

The initial soil microbiota impacts the potential for lignocellulose degradation during soil solarization

“…Studies using SBS with 5 wt% tomato pomace (dry weight) amended into soil achieved complete inactivation of the weed Brassica nigra after 8 days of biosolarization (Achmon et al . ). However, the same treatment using 1·5 wt% mesophilic digestate did not significantly increase B. nigra mortality compared to the control treatments (Fernandez‐Bayo et al .…”