This year I am planting Tomatoes, Peppers, Okra, Cucumbers, Zucchini, Sweet Potatoes, Watermelon, and Canteloupe all in plastic mulch.
It takes me 30 minutes to 60 minutes per bed to lay the plastic. The plastic in the high tunnels is much easier than outside.
Why Plastic Mulch? Here is a nice list of advantages from
http://uconnladybug.wordpress.com/2010/02/25/plastic-mulches-for-the-vegetable-garden/
Advantages:
- Increases soil temperature, allowing earlier planting and earlier harvest, and promotes plant growth in cooler climates.
- Soil compaction is reduced which improves root growth.
- Fertilizer leaching is reduced because excess water runs off the plastic.
- Water logging from excessive rain is avoided.
- Drying of soil from evaporation is reduced.
- Crops are cleaner and less subject to disease caused by soil-borne pathogens because they are not in contact with the soil or rain-splashed soil.
- Weed control with black plastic eliminates the damage to roots caused by cultivation to remove weeds.
- Weed control (black and colored mulches).
- Harvest of crops can be 2-14 days earlier with black plastic and as much as 21 days earlier with clear plastic, depending on the crop and the temperatures.
- The “chimney effect”: CO2, which is required for photosynthesis, builds up under the plastic and can only escape through the planting holes, causing a higher concentration around the growing leaves.
1. Cost of mulch and irrigation equipment.
2. Soil erosion can increase between the mulched rows.
3. Weeds may grow through the planting holes close to the crop plants.
4. Must be removed from the garden annually, along with the drip or soaker hose irrigation tubes.
However I believe the advantages over power the disadvantages.
Here are some pictures from this year, so far.
Here is "Hoop B" the big tomato building.
Cherry tomatoes
Cucumbers and Zucchini
Peppers
Watermelons
Okra
Sweet Potatoes
Enjoy!
You have been nominated for One Lovely Blog award. I hope you don't mind me calling your garden blog "lovely"! I nominate you "because it's my hubby's blog and I love the photos he takes and the step-by-step stories of how his veggies grow."
ReplyDeleteHi, my name is Jonny I live in south Florida and this is my first year putting in a garden, just big enough to feed my family of five. I put black plastic mulch over my rows for weed control and to help retain moisture. I am worried now about frying the roots from the heat. I am growing tomatoes, peppers, okra, squash zucchini, corn, cucumbers eggplant watermelon cantaloupe lima beans and sugar snap peas. Do you think I should leave it, remove it, or put straw over it? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteJonny, I am sorry I never saw this before now. You are correct, it is possible to overheat the root zone. If your crops cover the plastic mulch up, the I wouldn't worry about it so much. Covering it with straw is a good idea, another idea would be to use white mulch. It doesn't absorb as much heat and keeps the ground cooler and it will also retain the moisture and help with weed control. Check into it.
DeleteWaw! really amazing collection of plastic mulch. I impressed on your post and images. Thanks a lot for sharing it with us!
ReplyDeletehi,my name is Peter am in Kenya really impressed by the tech' can i still use the plastic on melone without drip irrigation,am using overhead!
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