Increased plant growth response. Studies have shown that plants grown in solarized soil grows faster and produce yield superior in both quantity and quality. This can be attributed to three reasons. First, major pathogens and pests are controlled which obviously favor better growth of plants. Second, some soluble nutrients like nitrogen (NO3-, NH4+), calcium (Ca++), and magnesium (Mg++) may be increased and made more available to plants in solarized soil. Lastly, some beneficial microorganisms like mycorrhizal fungi, actinomycetes, and good bacteria survive the solarization process and consequently recolonize the soil. In turn, this helps biological control of pathogens and pests, as well as to stimulate plant growth.