Raised beds can be treated via buried perforated tubing or pipes, or by blowing steam under a plastic sheet anchored at the edges. The tubing is typically placed 25 to 80 cm deep which provides an indication of the size of the area that can be treated from a single tube. Steam treatments of larger areas typically require 4 to 8 hours to complete with the goal being to reach a temperature of 60C to 70C for 30 minutes.
There have been attempts to create steam generating equipment that can be pulled through the soil to treat larger areas.
Negative effects have been observed in some treatments. High temperature can cause changes to soil resulting in the release of excessive amounts of manganese, or increased levels of nitrite and ammonium nitrogen resulting in phytotoxicity. As with other methods utilized to sterilize soil, organisms besides nematodes are likely to be killed.