Many farmers know how difficult it is to keep their crops free of weeds.

From sowing to germination may take several days, depending on the climatic conditions and the type of product we need to sow.
When it is hot, the germination time can be short (6-8 days). n this situation it is advisable to carry out the intervention with i heat treatment with flame for the control of weeds before sowing because an unexpected rain after this operation could prevent, due to the impracticability of the soil, to return to the field for a few days. In this case, if it has already been sown, there is a risk that the product will sprout and grow along with the weeds that are found in the first centimeters of the soil. To eliminate this inconvenience, it is good to do a heat treatment with the flame BEFORE SOWING of the crop by carrying out the following operations:

1. Preparation of the soil which should be soft, light and well levelled in the sowing or transplanting area; where possible, the soil surface should be slightly rolled. Our machines allow a slight compaction of the soil but leaving the surface of the same slightly undulated, this to increase its oxygenation.

2. Apply the flame treatment when weeds are born (false sowing of weeds). The effectiveness of the heat treatment before sowing of the product will result in the removal of all surface weed seeds, the removal of already grown weeds and the surface sterilization of the soil, for a few millimetres some millimetres including the elimination of any fungal spores and insects present on the soil surface.

In this case, since the seeds of the weeds sprout quickly and with very little scale, the intervention usually has an excellent success.
The better the soil, the greater the effect.

To improve the effect of the treatment, a machine equipped with a rotary harrow in the front can be used. In this case the surface part of the soil is thrown into the fire and then the heat can penetrate the first 3-4 cm of soil and thus to inhibit a greater amount of weed seeds while working the surface part of the soil that could have compacted as a result of unexpected rains.If the treatment has been carried out correctly all weeds and seeds that located in the first few centimeters of the surface of the ground will disappear.

The sudden discontinuities of air temperature and consequently in the soil (significant increases especially inside the tunnels) that have occurred in recent years have caused several problems in the production of cut leafy vegetables.
The most important of these is the so-called “thermodormience” phenomenon, that is the delayed germination (or sprouting) of small seeds placed in the first 2/3 centimeters of soil. This results in a lack of rapid and homogeneous emergence of both baby leaf and weed seeds.

To reduce this problem it is necessary to resort to the use of non-woven fabric, also known as anti-freeze fabric or TnT, which is normally ideal for protecting horticultural plants from early cold and used to retain and conserve soil heat.

During the summer and with high temperatures, if wet its use can instead be that of coolant for the soil. It is a permeable fabric (allows watering) and breathable (allows the aeration of plants). If wet, the water placed on it evaporates and cools the soil surface. Water evaporates at any temperature, although it evaporates faster at higher temperatures. The liquid evaporates from its surface to the air or supernatant vapour until it reaches equilibrium, unless it is carried away by wind.

To accomplish this process of change from the liquid phase to the air phase, water gives heat to the non-woven fabric by cooling it and then cooling the soil surface (similar effect of sweating that has the function of lowering body temperature by evaporation of water contained in sweat).

The use of non-woven fabric allows us to make the correct false sowing practice (germination of weeds homogeneous and fast) also during high soil temperatures conditions. In this way we eliminate in a very effective way all the weeds before the sowing of the cut leaf vegetables and in general the sowing or transplanting of all the vegetables.

This agronomic practice allows to apply in a profitable, fast and economic way the flame heat treatment, using our machines in their various versions.

Using a machine with a plate roller, spring panel, or rotary harrow in the front . can enhance the effect of the treatment. Working the soil’s surface allows heat to penetrate the first 3-4 cm , which inhibits the formation of weed seeds and breaks up the superficial crust.

If the treatment has been carried out correctly, all the weeds that have escaped from the soil and most of the seeds that are in the first superficial centimeters will disappear.

Flame heat treatment, a perfectly ecological technique, can be repeated several times on the same ground even in relatively short time without causing degradation of the soil or decrease in the content of organic carbon and respecting its biodiversity.

In the case of baby leaf seeds (depending on the variety, the optimal germination temperatures change but above 28/30 °C the phenomenon “thermodormience” invades all baby leaf seeds) the use of non-woven fabric in the post-seeding phase gives seeds a germinative energy and homogeneity even at high temperatures.