Non soil-invasive four-parameter rapid unnatural dual component selective illumination protocol (UDCIP) for plant eradication using a process time under one minute. Application of a relatively low level of non-mutating UV-A optical energy to root crowns and/or soil grades allows below-ground UV-A penetration into soil to illuminate root crowns, and when preceded by or coincident with an above ground near-IR defoliation and root crown illumination step, results in an unexpected rise in lethality. Very high lethality, including 100 percent, is obtained using low deposited energy. UV-A optical energy can be delivered to root crowns and adjacent soil via a UV-transmissive knive blade.
