Made my 1st batch of waxed dirt today using the solar method. Hopefully it'll keep the traps working this year.

Test it when it’s cooled. Make a pile of your waxed dirt and make a dimple in it. Fill the dimple with water and if the water stays in the cavity and doesn’t leak through in 24hrs, you’re golden!



Sand

Did the wax melt eventually? It looks like it has not in that photo, Seldom's dirt has wax melted innit.

Watching, need to get some going myself.

I picked up a couple of upper glass panels from junked-out storm doors that folks threw out and set them over my dirt/sand to intensify the solar heating. Worked great, far better than just the sun.

Good idea have a couple of them put away. Thanks Seldom!

Ok, I failed! Did the water test this morning and the water got sucked up in just a few minutes. I used 22 cups of wax for 10 gals of dirt. To fix it do I just do it again?

Yes you can BUT you need to add more dirt. IMHO, I think your % is quite lopsided.
Maybe these will help you-
https://youtu.be/_qNTGNJGQ7s?si=yJ486GjOeQHCXEwt
https://youtu.be/zXyd1BlQtPk?si=uHmf0Ub3LsFH6FmD

Too much wax? The video shows him using about 1/3 of that.

Probably less!

I do this as well and it works. You will get better melting if you put your tarp on concrete or asphalt. I had better luck on my driveway than in the grass. I think you get a cooling effect from the dirt and grass below your tarp.

I redid the dirt this morning
I added 1 1/2 cups of wax per gallon of dirt. That made 3 1/2 cups per gallon. It's holding water now. Thanks.

Started a batch the Seldom way today. Not to hot, in the seventies, but I'm hoping it works.

You may be on the cusp of the sun being too low to make enough “good” heat long enough Turtledale! Here in Central Michigan I found from mid-June to mid-July to be the best time when the sun was higher but you’ve got the right setup for sure!

There is something, a tip, I don’t think I mentioned in my videos and that has to do with the question “is my dirt dry”. If you have a setup like Turtledale, if you see condensation on the underside of the glass when the heat is building, that’s an indication your dirt is not dry enough to add wax! Without the glass covers, you’d have a hard time telling how dry is dry.

Coming along good enough Seldom. I just hit "color change" with my last hoeing. One more hot hoeing then on to cool down.

SWEET!

I did the solar method a couple years. I tried it spread out on a tarp and couldn't get it to melt, even in the mid 90s. Then I built a 1x4 frame around it and stretched clear visqueen over it and that worked well. Same idea as the window panes, but I had visqueen and didnt have spare windows around.

Picked up some wax today at our convention and want to het started. Our soil is pretty sandy so that is what I am going to use. With sand what would be the correct recipe.

Here's mine racked out and cooled
I used one pound of flake wax to 25 pounds of All purpose sand and will do a water test today after I screen it