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Vegetable Gardening

pre punched plastic mulch

12 years ago

Does anyone have a source for pre punched plastic mulch or an easy way to punch uniform holes in the plastic. I'm getting lazy. thanks

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Comments (12)

digdirt2
12 years ago
Lowes, Home Depot, Menards, Walmart, Ace Hardware, etc. not to mention all kinds of online sources. Just look for 'landscape fabric' and 'weed barrier'.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Landscape fabric sources
luke_oh
Original Author
12 years ago
Digdirt, Thanks, but I'm looking for Pre_Punched plastic mulch with the holes already punched for various plants. I've used plastic mulch for years now, but have not found any with the holes already punched. luke
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I put wood chips in the paths and use straw as mulch around my plants, if need be. I like straw because it breathes. To keep out weeds you can lay down several layers of wet newspapers and then pile the straw on top. Earthworms love it! I've used shredded leaves too with excellent results. As the straw or leaves decomposes, it adds nutrients to your soil that are beneficial to your soil and therefore your plants. By the end of summer your soil will be loose and next year so light that you may not even need to cultivate it before you plant. In the fall you can do the same thing after all your spent crops are removed. Lay down 6 or more layers of wet newspaper and pile on fall leaves, composted manure and more leaves (or your old straw). By next spring, your garden soil will be awesome stuff with little or no weeds. Hope this helps. Annie
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The only thing zone 6b tells anyone is about which plants will likely survive an average winter in your area. The Average Latest Date of Frost around here is May 30 (although the USDA is trying to tell us it is May 15) and with minimal protection I can put out frost tender plants a bit earlier. People I know that live in the Columbus, Ohio area are about a month earlier then we are here, so where you are should be about the same. Elliot Coleman grows food crops year around in his garden in Maine, in hoop houses without supplemental heat and was spotlighted in an episode of Growing a Greener World that some may find of interest. I have not found plastic, a material made from non renewable resources, to be much good in my garden and it is more harmful than not. That, however, may have as much to do with the cloud cover, which will limit solar gain, as anything. Plastic laid on soil restricts that soils ability to breath and can keep rain from reaching the soil unless holes are punched inthe plastic which then limits its effectiveness. Here is a link that might be useful: GGW 301
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I agree with Beeman. Also, if you have a horse manure supply, you probably have a store that sells feed. If you can get feed, then you can raise rabbits. If rabbits are an acceptable choice for you, they will make mountains of absolutely wonderful manure that can be added fresh or pre-composted in a large worm bin. The rabbits themselves taste good and if you have a dog, the fat and non-digestive-tract organs are a welcome treat. The mountain of manure they give you does come at a cost, however, and I estimate each rabbit will eat up to 3 50lb sacks of feed per year. Ironically, I have read recommendations to use rabbit food directly as fertilizer, though that seems a bit expensive. If your USDA Cold Heartiness Zone is between 3 and 9, you should be able to grow a plant called Comfrey. It's well known, has many gardening uses, grows like wildfire, and rabbits love it. I mostly feed my rabbits commercial pellets, but feeding some Comfrey helps keep the feed bill down in the summer. You normally can't burn it with raw manure, even chicken, and it just keeps making big, mineral rich leaves for your garden and livestock. I personally wouldn't make the stinky, anaerobic teas with it or till the green leaves or roots into the garden though. This plant is a survivor, and it should be grown in a dedicated patch that will only have Comfrey forever. If you give it a little (or a lot) of nitrogen, it will dig down and get whatever else it needs on its own, supposedly. I've found that it does do better with some moisture (even just that retained from mulching), and at least a couple hours of direct sunlight.
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I use 4' wide strips of woven, black polypropylene weed barrier in my garden, and it actually works, more often than not, as insulation, keeping the soil cooler and a more even temperature and moisture. There are small air pockets, a few layers of organic mulch and compost from the growing beds under the plastic, giving a pretty good heat transfer barrier. An interesting phenomenon is to be out there transplanting stuff, and the black plastic is almost too hot to touch so I need to sit on a bench, and the planting soil is cold. I routinely grow cool weather crops like spinach, peas, fava beans, and so on with the weed barrier right up to the stems. It certainly would be worth a try, but I'd keep the layer of newspaper down to the bare minimum, like one sheet, to stop weeds and allow the best transfer of heat energy. Otherwise, the paper would act like insulation and actually might keep the soil cooler. I proved to myself this past summer the difference on soil temperature and growth rate of both tomato and eggplant. Soil in a 10 gal container heated up considerably faster and the plants grew at least 2x as fast, yielding at least 2x as much as the garden plants. Now, if I can figure a way to heat the soil in an entire bed.....
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naturegirl_2007 5B SW Michigan
12 years ago
I have not used this product myself but saw it at a trade show recently. It's not plastic but looks good for single season use. It is available with various spacings. Page down on the link to see various layouts.

They had a WeedGuard transplanter at the show that looked like a bulb planter on steroids. The bottom edge was super sharp and could be pushed down to cut through the mulch easily. It is advertised in the left hand column of the linked site.

Here is a link that might be useful: WeedGuard Plus...prepunched holes
digdirt2
12 years ago
Landscape fabric - which is made of plastic but called fabric and is sold in rolls 3-4' wide and 25-300' long that is sold by all the stores listed above is already pre-punched. It is micro-punched if you will so while you may not be able to see the holes in the roll they are there and are readily obvious to sight and feel on the underside of the fabric.

Says right on the labels something like "allows air and water to pass right through". It comes in various thicknesses rated on the label by est. years it will last. Labels say things like 1 yr. biodegradable, 5 year permascape, 25 year landscaping, etc.

The stuff you are looking for is very common and readily available.

http://www.lowes.com/pl_Landscape+Fabric_4294857236_4294937087_

http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1930383&CAWELAID=109333048

http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Gardener-22340-Landsc-Fabric/dp/B00004RA0Y

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202214393/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053
luke_oh
Original Author
12 years ago
Naturegirl, Thank you. although, made from biogradeable paper instead of plastic, this is what I;m looking for. Thanks, luke
wayne_5 zone 6a Central Indiana
12 years ago
If you use plastic mulch for heat gain also, weed guard likely will not warm the soil. If the plastic mulch comes on a roll, before you unroll any, drill holes with a drill bit.
denninmi
12 years ago
Yup, I buy the 20 x 100 foot rolls of 6 mil black poly, and I drill through the cardboard box and the roll, all the way to the cardboard tube inside, generally I use about a 3/8ths inch drill bit, putting a hole every 4 to 6 inches. Takes only about 5 minutes per roll, and results in a nice, relatively even distribution of drainage holes.
glib
12 years ago
But then you still have to punch holes for the plants. Do you use a knife and make a cross cut after laying it down, or do you use a 1 inch circular drill for the plant holes?
denninmi
12 years ago
I melt planting holes with a long handled propane torch (currently using a Bernz-o-matic). Works great. Makes a nice, uniform hole about the size of a tennis ball in a few seconds -- simple, quick, and easy. Wear sturdy boots, you may need to stomp out the occasional plastic fire.

Alternate methods I've also used include cutting a round circle with a disposable knife (since the blades dull quickly), or just using a trowel or dibble to puncture a hole and plant through.

I prefer the somewhat larger planting hole with plastic removed, since it still presents a minimal area for weeds to grow, but removal of the area of plastic eliminates the danger of the small transplant disappearing under the plastic and baking during windy weather.
glib
12 years ago
not to be a pest, but I don't know how well this will work if you have drip lines under the plastic.
randy41_1
12 years ago
i use a bulb planter to make the holes. pretty easy.
buenaventura43
12 years ago
I use core aerator attached to my tiller.I just take out the tiller blade then replace it with the lawn core aerator.

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