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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] New to the list; Black Plastic Mulch Overheating

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  • From: "Bill Shoemaker" <wshoemak AT inil.com>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] New to the list; Black Plastic Mulch Overheating
  • Date: Thu, 8 May 2008 07:12:14 -0500

Black plastic mulch is used in the southern US quite successfully. The huge conventional tomato crops in Florida are often grown on it. The plants will shade the plastic once they gain enough size. Before that, the heat from the plastic will promote growth, the plastic conserves moisture and the weeds are totally controlled. Put drip irrigation tape underneath and you can really manage the crop. In the future I think bio-degradable mulches will become more common and affordable. Growers will be able to till in the plastic and let the microbes eat it, a considerable labor savings and environmental improvement.

We have been evaluating 10 plastic mulches of different colors with tomatoes, peppers and melons for several years. There are real differences in plant performance. Which color works best depends on which plant you're growing and when you plant. In the end, because of price differences in the products and black being cheapest, black is the best all-in-one mulch for warm season crops generally in our area. Because conditions, including daylengths, differ in other areas, results might be different in other areas.

Lucy's point about transplants wilting is good. I've lost plants when conditions are hot and sunny. Plant early in cool, cloudy conditions if possible. If you put a spadeful of soil around the base of the plant, sealing the hole in the mulch, it will stop the hot air from funneling out through the hole. The concentrated stream of hot air is what kills the plant. Sealing the hole prevents the damage. I knew a couple of vegetable growers who used clear plastic on tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, squash and other summer crops. It gets even hotter than black plastic but weeds grow under it. They would seal the holes like I described above. It would get so hot that the weeds underneath would fry but the crops would thrive. They practiced this for 30 years before they retired. They still do it in their garden. They also had earlier crops than growers with black plastic mulch.

Bill Shoemaker, Sr Research Specialist, Food Crops
University of Illinois - St Charles Horticulture Research Center, zone 5b
www.nres.uiuc.edu/faculty/directory/shoemaker_wh.html




And, also, does anybody in zone 6b have experience using black plastic
mulch with tomatoes? I would like to try this but I'm concerned about
overheating the soil. If started early enough would the shade from
grown plants be enough by mid summer to keep this from being a
problem?





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