Desinfection plastics
There are two kinds of techniques to get the desinfection of soil using films of plastic:
- Chemical desinfection. It consists of injecting a chemical disinfectant on the ground. The chemical products used become gaseous when they are released, so it is necessary to cover the ground with a plastic sheet to prevent the gases from escaping. In this way, we increase the effectiveness of the disinfectant action, we avoid risks of poisoning and also possible chemical attacks of other products to the greenhouse covers, which would shorten their life expectancies.
Plastyagro® has specially designed films for this application that have high mechanical properties and a sufficient degree of impermeability to these gases to achieve optimal results. These films usually have between 30 and 40μ of thickness, and the main characteristic is their mechanical resistance (mainly to the tear and to the perforation), and a low permeability to the disinfectant gases. In the case of practically total impermeability, there are VIF films (virtually impermeable films), which are manufactured with a mixture of polyethylene and low gas permeability polymers in a three-layer structure and are much more effective. The disinfection film only remains installed about 15/20 days. Our team of experts will advise you to find the most effective solution you need.
- Solarization. This technique pursues the same objective as disinfection, but by heating the culture soil at temperatures above 40 ° C for a sufficient time to kill pathogens that may exist in the soil. To achieve this effect, a plastic sheet between 40 and 60μ thick is used, whose main characteristic is a high thermal transparency. This sheet is usually applied at the beginning of summer and should be installed, approximately, 2 months outdoors, and at least 4/5 weeks if it is inside a greenhouse.
The disinfection film is a transparent plastic of very thin thickness. They are usually manufactured in LLDPE (linear polyethylene of low quality) to ensure mechanical strength. It also has the following advantages:
- Minimize the amount of disinfectants that escape from the ground, thereby saving disinfectant.
- Prevent the disinfectant from reaching the cover al the greenhouse, so that it lasts longer.
- Help the action of the disinfectant by increasing the temperature of the soil and maintaining humidity.
The film for solarization is a transparent, thermal and anti-fog film that manages to increase the temperature of the soil between 5 and 7 ºC to a depth of 15 cm and, in addition, avoids the condensation of water on the inside; which allows the passage of solar radiation. Thanks to the increasing of temperature, the mortality of pathogenic nematodes and fungi is increased by 97% in approximately 22 days of solarization. Higher results are obtained than would be obtained with chemical nematicides.