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Topic: Plastic mulch


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In the News (Thu 10 Dec 09)

  
  plasticprimer
Emmert is known as the father of agricultural plastics in the U.S. and he developed the use of agricultural plastic through his research on greenhouses, row covers and mulches.
Clear mulch is the most transparent to infrared radiation and warms the soil to the greatest extent of all plastic mulches, increasing daytime soil temperatures from about 7º to 13ºF at a depth of 2 inches.
Recently, a mulch has been introduced that consists of a strip of fl plastic down the center that is flanked on either side by metalized reflective plastic.
www.uvm.edu /vtvegandberry/factsheets/plasticprimer.html   (1107 words)

  
 Spartanburg SC | GoUpstate.com | Spartanburg Herald-Journal
Plastic mulch is a product used, in a similar fashion to mulch, to suppress weeds and conserve water in crop production and landscaping.
Certain plastic mulches also act as a barrier to keep methyl bromide, both a powerful fumigant and ozone depleter, in the soil.
Plastic mulch is often used in conjunction with drip irrigation.
www.goupstate.com /apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=NEWS&template=wiki&text=plastic_mulch   (158 words)

  
  Plastic Mulch Application
While mulching insures greater irrigation efficiency, it also necessitates the need for drip irrigation as all moisture falling on the mulched bed, be it from overhead irrigation or rainfall, is shed from the bed.
A drawback of clear mulch is that it requires the use of a herbicide to prevent weed growth beneath it.
At the Noble Foundation, clear plastic mulch is used religiously during July and August to control weeds and soilborne pathogens in a process known as solarization.
www.noble.org /Ag/Horticulture/raisdbed/rb21.html   (1486 words)

  
 Using Plastic Mulches and Drip Irrigationfor Vegetable Production
Increased growth: Plastic mulch is practically impervious to carbon dioxide (CO), a gas that is of prime importance in photosynthesis.
The plastic mulch is generally 4 or 5 ft wide, 1.25 to 1.50 mil thick, embossed (diamond shaped design on film which helps hold mulch tight against the soil) or slick, and comes in 2,400 ft rolls.
When laying plastic in the spring, plant the entire field with rye but be sure to work up the crop area early enough in the spring to minimize crop debris interference with fumigating and plastic laying.
www.ces.ncsu.edu /hil/hil-33.html   (2393 words)

  
 Zimmerman - Influence of Plastic Mulch and Subsurface Drip Irrigation on Yield and Brix Levels of Kabocha Squash   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-14)
The color of the plastic mulch did not appear to significantly influence the total yield per acre of squash.
In the mulch plots, 2-4-D and Roundup were used to control weeds in the open space between the mulched beds until the vines covered this ground.
The plastic mulch may have exacerbated the problem by providing a hiding place for the squash bugs at the point where the plant is growing through the mulch.
www.colostate.edu /programs/wcrc/annrpt/00/Zimmerman_Kabocha.html   (3057 words)

  
 Welcome to the Center for Plasticulture at Penn State
Plastic mulches directly impact the microclimate around the plant by modifying the radiation budget (absorbitivity vs. reflectivity) of the surface and decreasing the soil water loss.
Soil temperatures under fl plastic mulch during the daytime are generally 5° F higher at a 2-inch depth and 3° F higher at a 4-inch depth compared to those that of bare soil.
Thus, daytime soil temperatures under clear plastic mulch are generally 8 to 14° F higher at a 2-inch depth and 6 to 9° F higher at a 4-inch depth compared to those of bare soil.
plasticulture.cas.psu.edu /P-Mulch.html   (1314 words)

  
 F-6034, Use of Plastic Mulch and Row Covers in Vegetable Production   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-14)
Mulch which becomes brittle and breaks up too early is usually worse than no mulch at all, not to mention the money wasted.
Plastic mulch is not a substitute for thorough soil preparation.
Plastic mulches and row covers used alone or in combination offer the grower a management tool which can increase earliness, yield, quality and return per acre in exchange for an additional input.
pearl.agcomm.okstate.edu /hort/vegetables/f6034.htm   (3523 words)

  
 Mulch in an organic vegetable garden - an organic gardening article by Mort Mather
She ridiculed the use of plastic mulch by envisioning someone covering the whole garden with it as she did with organic mulches.
Mulch as a verb is the act of applying some covering to the soil usually for the purpose of controlling weeds.
But I found that the mulch (leaves and hay) which I had dumped on the garden in the fall (to be plowed under in the spring) had kept the earth soft and moist; I merely needed to clear a spot with the rake and drop the seeds.
supak.com /mort/mulch.htm   (4445 words)

  
 Plastic Mulch | Hesitations About The Usage Of Plastic Mulch Are Often Misguided
Mulch is supposed to help the soil retain water and other essential nutrients, yes, but plastic is not exactly the malleable substance that is synonymous with the usual materials used as mulches...
Yet, plastic mulch does exist, and often, plastic mulch is used in gardens that extend by several hundreds of acres.
Mulches made of plastic may encounter a lot of hesitance from many gardeners all over the world, but its benefits cannot be ignored.
www.playground-mulch.com /Articles/Hesitations_About_The_Usage_Of_Plastic_Mulch_Are_Often_Misguided.php   (593 words)

  
 Plastic Mulch: Harmful or Helpful?
But tomato producers, for instance, use plastic sheeting instead of wood chips as mulch on large parts of their fields to prevent the same kinds of problems.
Unfortunately, plastic mulch, which can cover between 50 percent and 70 percent of a field, increases surface water runoff from both rainfall and irrigation.
Several management systems were investigated for their environmental impact: plastic mulch only; plastic mulch with rye grown between rows; or hairy vetch.
www.ars.usda.gov /is/AR/archive/jul03/mulch0703.htm   (905 words)

  
 Recycled Rubber Mulch | Recycled Rubber Mulch - More Than Environment-Friendly
There are many kinds of mulches that can be used, you see, but not all of them are conducive for a wide variety of gardens.
Mulches made of leaves and other organic materials, for example, tend to smell once mixed with water.
Recycled rubber mulch should be preferred based on the price alone, what more with the other advantages it brings to the fray.
mulch.hobbyboutique.com   (549 words)

  
 Feedback on Plastic Mulch   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-14)
We put clear six mil plastic on the side of a drafty house once, and it was shredded to smitherines the second year.
The only advantage of plastic over other types of mulch to be in raising the temperature of the soil (but I wonder if in a desert climate like mine, the plastic would heat up the soil a plants TOO much and fry them to death).
Plastic mulch only lasts a season, unless you plant in the same slits the next year, and then fertilizer has to be applied very ca: fully or it sits on the plastic and runs off away from where the roots are.
www.motherearthnews.com /Nature-and-Environment/1972-03-01/Feedback-on-Plastic-Mulch.aspx   (3308 words)

  
 Mulch film
The co-evolution of fruit and vegetable farming and plastic film processing is becoming as natural as bees to honey; and the result is already making an enormous impact improving food production.
Another mulch film under trial is an ultra-thin film for sweet corn and potatoes made using Ampacet's photodegradable masterbatch.
One of the great benefits in the use of mulch films is the significant reduction in the use of aggressive agro chemicals, i.e.
www.ampacet.com /newsletter/MulchFilm.htm   (764 words)

  
 Colored Plastic Mulches for Vegetable Gardening
Black plastic mulch when struck by sunlight absorbs most of the energy in that light at all the wavelengths of significance--ultra-violet, visible, and infrared--then re-emits that energy as long-wavelength ("thermal") radiation.
Soil temperatures under well-fitted fl plastic mulch during the daytime are generally 5° F. higher at a 2-inch depth, and 3° F. higher at a 4-inch depth, than those of bare soil.
In their literature, the researchers also reported that yellow plastic seems to be quite attractive to unwanted insects, and it is sometimes used in commercial practice as a "catch" for that purpose (that is, a few rows are set out here and there on yellow, and pest control vigorously applied to those particular rows).
growingtaste.com /mulches.shtml   (2938 words)

  
 The Use Of Plastic Mulches For Vegetable Production   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-14)
Plastic mulches, especially fl plastic, do not break down and should never be disked or incorporated into the soil.
Mulch is available with an embossed (diamond shape design) pattern on the film which helps to hold the mulch tight against the soil.
Muskmelons, honeydews and watermelons on conventional and photodegradable plastic mulches with drip irrigation in Kansas.
www.agnet.org /library/article/eb333.html   (2270 words)

  
 Use of Plastic Mulch for Vegetable Production   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-14)
Plastic mulch increases plant growth by increasing soil temperature and stabilizing soil moisture.
Plastic Culture System is plastic mulch, raised beds, soil fumigation and drip irrigation; all are part of the RsystemS and cannot be separated if the optimum level of success is to be achieved.
Plastic mulch varies in color and type and should be selected depending on the time of year, the crop to be grown and the opportunity for double cropping*.
www.penpages.psu.edu /penpages_reference/29401/2940171.HTML   (1311 words)

  
 Water-Holding Gel and Plastic Mulch Conserve Soil Moisture
Mulches and synthetic, water-absorbing polymer crystals can be used to store water around plant roots.
An ultraviolet light inhibitor in the mulch helps extend its useful life, so it can be used several years before replacing.
The mulch also helps warm the soil early in the season to promote growth, Dickerson said.
www.suite101.com /article.cfm/american_agriculture/53023   (378 words)

  
 Choosing Mulch for Vegetable Gardens: Gardener's Supply   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-14)
Researching vegetable garden mulches I learned that I should be matching the mulch to the crop, weather conditions and soil.
You might also consider removing the plastic in late July and replacing it with a water-permeable mulch such as straw, newspaper or grass clippings.
These mulches can lower soil temperatures by as much as 20 to 25 degrees, which may keep cool-weather plants producing right through the summer’s heat.
www.gardeners.com /gardening/content.asp?copy_id=5013   (852 words)

  
 COLORED PLASTIC MULCH MAY HELP VALLEY VEGETABLE FARMERS   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-14)
Plastic mulch has been used successfully in South Texas for years on a variety of high-value vegetable crops.
Each plastic mulch is evaluated by measuring vine lengths of the watermelon plants and soil temperature.
She said her company was also working on a photo-degradable film that is tilled into the soil after harvest, since removing the plastic at season's end is one of the biggest expenses of using plastic mulch.
agnews.tamu.edu /dailynews/stories/HORT/May1903a.htm   (678 words)

  
 Plastic Mulch and Weed Control   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-14)
Some of the benefits of plastic mulch include earliness, reduced weed pressure in the crop bed, reduced evaporation from the soil surface, reduced splashing of soil onto crops, etc. Plastic mulch is now a component of plasticultre crop production.
Plastic mulch helps increase soil temperatures early in the growing season which benefits warm season crops like melons.
Plastic can be difficult to pick up and is quite dirty which limits is ability to be recycled.
southcenters.osu.edu /hort/plastic.htm   (1540 words)

  
 Tomato Growing Tips
Plastic mulch isn't part of our ideal organic garden, but study after study has found that beds covered in fl plastic in spring produce tomatoes earlier and more of them all season long.
Where the growing season is short, plastic mulch may be essential if you want to harvest tomatoes at all.
Even more effective, researchers have found, is infra-red transmitting plastic mulch, which reflects just the kind of light plants need up onto the foliage.
www.organicgardening.com /feature/0,7518,s1-5-16-193,00.html   (751 words)

  
 Plastic mulch / Spring flowering bulbs
Clear plastic does indeed speed the warming of soil, if the garden is in a sunny location, because it allows the sunlight to pass through to the soil, warming the soil directly.
Clear plastic may be used early in the spring to warm the soil for early planting of warm season vegetables but, especially here in New Mexico, it is important to remove the plastic or cover it with another mulch or reflective material as the weather warms.
Mulch is an important tool for limiting weed problems in the garden and in conserving moisture as well as cooling the soil in mid-summer.
www.cahe.nmsu.edu /ces/yard/1998/042798.html   (567 words)

  
 Ag Mulch References
Coextruded plastic mulches have allowed manufacturers the ability to market some very unique materials such as white on white, white on fl, or silver on fl to commercial growers.
The combination of coextruded mulch colors imparts several new characteristics of plastics in agriculture: maintenance of cool soil temperature in summer (southern locations), increased warming of soil temperature in spring (northern locations), and repelling aphids with the silver/fl colored mulch.
The difference in crop yield in response to different mulch colors is due in part to the ability of the different mulch colors to increase soil temperatures.
www.cstone.net /~agmulch/ref5.html   (913 words)

  
 Plastic Mulch Layers and Transplanters
The Model 90 Deluxe Mulch Layer is the top of the line for plastic mulch layers and is the most fully adjustable and free floating layer currently on the market.
The Model 94 also features a convenient plastic starting system: no need to start the plastic over by hand for a new row, just lower the bed shaper to the ground and go.
The Model 900 Mulch Transplanter is designed to set peat pots, cell type plants, and Jiffy 7's, among others, into plastic mulch.
www.walkereq.com /plastic.htm   (372 words)

  
 Protecting Water Quality: Best Management Practices for Row Crops Grown on Plastic Mulch in Virginia
Plastic mulch protects the soil surface from raindrop impact and erosion, and eliminates erosion in the area under the plastic mulch.
Plastic mulch is used for some annual vegetable crops and one row-cropped, perennial small fruit crop.
Initially, it appears that plastic mulch use limited to the upper field areas, where the slopes are somewhat milder and the travel distance of runoff is greatest, would perhaps lead to a reduction in the amount of runoff and soil leaving the farm.
www.ext.vt.edu /pubs/waterquality/442-756/442-756.html   (15392 words)

  
 Machine Mulch, mulch, RobertMarvel.com selling the highest quality plastic mulch film   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-14)
Micro Tough is superior to “conventional” Mulch plastics in all of the physical characteristics that matter to the grower.
White on fl mulch is used to help cool the soil for mid late summer planting of crops for the fall of which would benefit from the cooler soil temperature.
Farmers have traditionally used plastic mulch to protect their crops from insects and disease, to promote faster growth, earlier crops and improve plant quality.
www.robertmarvel.com /Plastic_Mulch/Plastic_Mulch.html   (1489 words)

  
 Strawberry Yield over Red versus Black Plastic Mulch -- Kasperbauer 40 (1): 171 -- Crop Science
Plastic mulches are frequently used in raised-bed culture of
plastic was applied by taping it in place.
fl mulch was greatest in the early part of the season.
crop.scijournals.org /cgi/content/full/40/1/171   (2790 words)

  
 Plastic Mulch
Using plastic mulch creates increased yields, earlier maturing crops, crops of higher quality, less insect problems, and weed control.
Crops such as cantaloupe, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash, eggplant, watermelons, and okra have shown significant positive responses from the use of plastic mulch.
Originally, plastic mulches were primarily fl, clear, and white.
www.havilandprinting.com /plasticmulch   (534 words)

  
 Aloe vera Response to Plastic Mulch and Nitrogen
Aloe vera response to plastic mulch and nitrogen.
The experimental arrangement of the experiment was a split plot with mulch and bare soil treatments as the main plot; three fertilization doses (0, 100, and 150 kg/ha) represented the subplot.
Means test for mulch and bare soil treatments at different fertilization doses for leaves, gel, juice and bagasse yields in Aloe vera at harvest.
www.hort.purdue.edu /newcrop/ncnu02/v5-570.html   (1430 words)

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