[Market-farming] row covers and flea beetles and white-on-black mulch
Allan Balliett
aballiett at frontiernet.net
Fri May 15 07:00:42 EDT 2009
I'd like to grow a decent crop of rapini for the CSA this early summer.
Flea beetles are a big problem for us.
My early experiments with row cover and flea beetles gave me crops
that were devoured by flea beetles when I finally lifted the row
cover. For this reason, I've remained dubious.
But I hear so many proclaim the benefits of row cover that I'm ready
to try again.
One error I apparently made was that I didn't put the row covers on
on the day of seeding. Is this a necessity? In an area of the garden
known to have flea beetles is bare soil/worked soil enough to repel
them for a while or do you spray a repellant or insecticide on the
bare soil before putting on the row cover?
I have a roll of the white-on-black plastic mulch that I've never
used. I'm wondering if those of you who use it think it w.b. a good
plastic to use with a row covered raab/rapini planting. (I'm
concerned about leaving the row cover on until harvest, so I don't
want to have to worry about weeds.
And, do I have it straight on this white-on-black plastic mulch? It
really will COOL the soil rather than heat it, thereby prolonging the
non-bolting life of brassicas grown on it?
Thanks for listening.
-Allan in WV
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