Winterizing the garden...

[Ed of Somis]

I have begun the process of cleaning out my raised beds for the winter. I am not growing Fall/Winter crops. I have a couple of concerns about this....1. Many tomatoes got smashed or simply dried up under my plants during the season. 2. Many old leaves are not going to be completely eliminated because of the sheer numbers of them in/on the soil. I do not want volunteers or disease next season. Do you have any tricks or suggestions other than just trying to rake thoroughly? I have considered "solarization" of my bed.

[Gardeneer]

Probably you cannot prevent volunteers from growing. I would just pull them when I see them.
On the leaves, you can just rake the beds and get them out as much as you can. If you did not have any fungal/mold problems there is no need to do anything beyond just general clean up. But as an extra measure you might want to spray the beds with bleach solution ( about 7 oz per gallon ).

[AlittleSalt]

Ed, you have caught my attention. I wish I had seen this thread yesterday.

I agree with Gardeneer, there will be volunteers. A bleach solution could help (No science from me - it just sounds like a good idea).

Personally, I try my best to remove all garden plants, leaves,
and roots for the same reason - to try to keep disease out. But for the fallen tomatoes and peppers in our gardens - I leave them there and eventually till them under. It does propagate a lot of volunteers, but I think of them a little differently. Weeds are going to grow in a garden next spring no matter what. I would rather the weeds be volunteer tomato and pepper plants.

I apologize for not answering your question as you asked it. Instead, I offered a different way of looking at it. But if I had a definitive answer, I would offer it.

[Ed of Somis]

Thanks for the advice. I had not considered the bleach idea...that sounds easy enough. I always get early blight....and it is a slow death after summer. Not sure if that over-winters in the soil or not.

[PaulF]

There are so many soil borne diseases and they are in such great numbers that, in my opinion and the opinions of many other in my research, that the only real protection is just what is going on. Namely garden sanitation. Rake as much of the leaf material as possible and pull the plants out by the root. Those wilts and blights do overwinter and spraying with bleach may sound good but really will be ineffectual. It may not hurt in the sanitation process but probably won't do all that much just to spray the surface. Volunteers can be pulled when they appear.

Bleach really works to disinfect cages where the diseases can lie dormant over the winter. The nasty little buggers will make a home anywhere. The best protection comes from fall clean-up and a mulching program during the growing season to keep soil splash from getting it all started during rainfall or watering.

I know it is recommended to rotate for disease reduction, but many of us have too small an area for that. Another thing to consider is to keep all tomato plants and leaves out of compost piles since it is difficult for many piles to attain the temperatures high enough to destroy the diseases, viral and bacterial. That goes for tomato relatives as well.

[Labradors2]

How about using a hoe and mulching? I like to garden organically and that is what I do.

In addition, after I have cleaned up the bed, I throw a couple of large tarps over the whole thing, and weigh them down with boards, logs, a cattle panel, and (when I have them) bags of compost . I feel that it prevents nutrients from being washed away in the winter, but even more importantly, it stops weeds from growing in the spring time when it is wet/cold and I don't want to be out there weeding. It also helps the soil to warm up. When I remove the tarps there are a few dandelions and grasses that have survived, but it doesn't take long to dig them out and I'm all ready to plant.

Linda

[slugworth]

I did the dakota fire pit one year,but you have to do it in different parts of the garden.
Tedious if you have a big garden.
The heat cooks just about everything in the earth I think.

[Ed of Somis]

lab....that sounds like a form of solarization. I had considered that. I actually read that the black plastic I bought for this....was not the right thing. They say you should use clear plastic. I am not sure there is a down-side to solarization. I would guess the worms would go deep when their feet get hot.

[PaulF]

After searching the net about solarization, most say 6 to 8 weeks of the hottest and sunniest part of the year works best for weed seed eradication and the same for many disease producing pathogens. Sounds as though my garden or at least parts of it would be out of production for the season. One guy seems to say cooler weather might work but it would take longer with less than ideal results.

For weeds, a hoe and a good mulch layer may work as well in the long run. It sounds like a lot of work deep tilling, soaking with water to a depth go a couple of feet and then applying the plastic and keeping it in place for a couple of months.

Some say earthworms and the good bacteria and viruses go deeper and then repopulate after solarization. Do then the bad bugs also go deep and then repopulate the solarized soil? Only one guy gave an indication of how long it was before he noticed blights and wilts returning. His time period was one or two years and a few more for weeds. I could find nothing except a few personal experiences.

For me, solarization may be good for a serious weed infestations but for disease prevention may best be though other means.