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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 ?

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 a lot 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.