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Brule Herbe : le désherbage écologique
Facts Worth Knowing About Thermal Weed Control
Why use thermal weed control ?
It is environmentally friendly, there is no air pollution, and no chemical
residues remain in the soil.
Its use is independent from wind and rain.
There is no preparation of poisonous chemicals, no decontamination of
man nor machine, and no need for record-keeping of used chemicals.
It is easy to operate and much faster and cheaper than weeding by hand.
How does thermal weed control work ?
Weed before treatment
It is sufficient to heat parts of the plant especially the leaves up
to 70 degrees C to damage the protein. If a plant is heated up to 100
degrees C, all the cellular structures are destroyed also. In both cases
vesicular breathing ceases and the plant dies. To check whether a leaf
has been heated up enough, and in order to find optimum working speed,
a finger pressure test can be applied. If you squeeze a leaf that has
been exposed to heat between your thumb and index finger, a dark green
mark should become visible.
The time required for the flame weeding to be effective depends on several
factors. If the foliage is wet it will take more time for the heat to
get to work on the plant. The leaves of a young shoot can be heated
up to 70 degrees C in a fraction of a second. Fleshy and hairy leaves
need longer exposure as do creeping weeds. Plants that have undergone
heat treatment have a darker colour and appear limp.
When is flame weeding most effective?
The optimal time for thermal weed control is early Spring. Weeds in their early stages of growth (2-4 leaves) are still small and don't have reserves stored in their root system. If treatment takes place when the weeds are flowering considerably more time and energy are required.
It is advantageous for the next season if you can burn in the Autumn.
This will destroy or severely damage weeds seeds and prevent them causing
a problem the following year. It will also kill any resting disease
spores such as mildew and sclerotinia.