North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Bruce Hansen" <brucehansen@ACD.NET>]

Tom:

I am in zone 5 (mid Michigan). Who can say what will happen with global
warming, but the ambient temperatures here are low enough to mitigate
sunscald possibilities.( I think) Also, early bloom vs frost damage is a
tough call. Personally, late spring frosts, like this year, cause me a lot
of grief. My main point is that I do not like hay as a mulch. Voles do!!!
Again, some folks like to use mulch in their gardens to ward off summer
weeds. I prefer to cultivate. Having grown-up in the West, I am familiar
with irrigation for crops. After your water turn you would always cultivate
so as to break-up the water channels that lead into the soil. This provides
an insulating layer to thwart the sun from prematurely removing the water
from the soil. In Michigan I do the same thing after a rain fall. I add my
organic matter to the soil in the Fall.

Ta

Bruce

-----Original Message-----
From: nafex-admin@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:nafex-admin@lists.ibiblio.org]On Behalf Of Thomas Olenio
Sent: Monday, August 12, 2002 1:14 PM
To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: RE: [NAFEX] orchard ground-cover options


Hello,

Does the black plastic result in earlier bloom, and increase the
possibility of frost damage to blooms?

Also, with less and less snow cover in the winter, does the black plastic
risk sunscald type damage?  The ground would be warming and cooling at an
increased rate compared to trees with no black plastic mulch.

Thanks,
tom

--
Southwest Ontario
Canada Hardiness Zone 6a
(similar to US zone 5)

On Mon, 12 Aug 2002, Bruce Hansen wrote:

> I have had too many trees girdled by voles to use a hay mulch. In my view,
> plastic is much better. You do not have to remove it in the spring since
> black is good for solar heat to the soil. This will also help in reducing
a
> late spring frost.
>

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