Onions under plastic mulch?
okoutdrsman
9 years ago
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okoutdrsman
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Do I have to irrigate under IRT plastic mulch?
Comments (2)Yes, you do. Either under (best) or on top of it (fair). For future reference it is always best to water well before applying the mulch. Yes, it does trap the moisture and it slows evaporation but the water has to be there first and has to be supplied now and then too in some fashion and rain isn't that dependable. Its use reduces the need to water but it doesn't eliminate it. ;) Dave...See MoreClear plastic mulch and general plastic mulch questions
Comments (4)Personally I prefer to use black plastic for warming the soil. I've found it heats somewhat slower than clear, but it also doesn't allow weed seeds to start growing either. I usually lay it down about 2-3 weeks earlier that I plan to plant and the soil is warmed sufficiently enough. Also I normally cut holes thru the plastic to plant so the soil continually warms for a few more weeks. I'll remove it when I start laying down organic material for mulching about the fist week of June. I only use plastic mulch to warm the soil for: Melon, Pumpkin, Eggplant, and Okra so I can plant out between May 11-15th vs waiting the extra 2 weeks after the last average frost date has passed. One year all I had available was clear trash bags to use. I laid it over the hills I created for the melon. Within about 1.5 weeks I had well over 1,000 Amaranthus 'Intense Purple' seedlings literally covering the hills LOL! I took this picture while I was in the process of laying down mulch; as you can see I ultimately decided to allow some Amaranthus to stay, but many of the smaller ones ended up in the compost pile. No more clear plastic after that fiasco :O PS. How soon you want to lay it out will depend on your soil type. Soils having a lot of clay will warm up much slower than a sandy loam soil :)...See MoreBlack Plastic Under Mulch--Yes or No?
Comments (39)I have been having a lot of luck these past years with a super-thick tarp made for trucks. It is one of the thickest they make, and that has been necessary to hold up under the sun, rain, snow, moles, pulling, cutting, etc. But they have held up well for 2 years now with no signs of real concern. Even areas of tearing, they haven't compromised the idea of a tarped garden. My garden is roughly 24'x90' so I bought two 16 mil brown tarps (24x45 each). Be sure to add maybe an extra foot because they shrink a tad. I laid them down, cut holes for plants, and weighed them initially with some pieces of scrap lumber, rocks, and tomato cages to keep the whole thing in place. But after some weeks this was not necessary as all the plants hold the whole thing together. I put a sprinkler system in places and the holes for the plants give plenty of water to come in. Is it perfect? Not at all. I have to roll it up once a year to till, the wind sometimes blows things out of place, it gets dirty and full of debris, etc. But compared to my extremely vigorous weeds, this idea has made an impossible garden more than manageable. NOTE: Adding a tarp will increase soil temperature. In my area (oHIo) this is a great thing, but depending on your area and plants, something to keep in mind. Here is a link that might be useful: Super Heavy Duty Tarp...See MoreMold under black plastic mulch
Comments (1)Plastic on soils can create anaerobic conditions that are prime for many plant diseases because those plastic ground covers inhibit the proper exchange of air thazt good, healthy soils need. A far better material to use to inhibit "weed" growth is newspapere, or cardboard, covered with another material to hold them in place and hide them. Those materials allow proper air exchange with the soil....See Moreosuengineer
9 years agoosuengineer
9 years agoosuengineer
9 years agoluvncannin
9 years agookoutdrsman
9 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
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