Time to Put Down Plastic

[hunterridgefarm]

Did you skip your home gym workout that day?

My wife noticed in your pictures that the ground shows through the opacity of your plastic.
Is it still supposed to control weed growth underneath?

We tried a rather transparent plastic one year and the weeds loved it; like being in a greenhouse.

Nope did not skip the workout that night...but if I had been working shoulders I would have

The plastic is black and not opaque. What you are seeing is stains from where dirt was thrown up on it or the dirt that came out of the hole when planting. From what I have read opaque or clear plastic does not suppress weeds very well.

 

[randy41]

are you going to weed wack between rows? or did you spray something?

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Your plants looking good. I have not installed my drip line yet, because we have been getting lots of rain. my first planting of corn and beans have sprouted, I put down my 2nd planting monday night.

 

[pacerron]

Randy,

Actually last night when I was running the pump I sprayed some roundup on the weeds between the rows. I left the grass in most places. The plan was to put straw between the rows, but finding time to do this is the issue. Next year the rows will be a little closer and I will lay them earlier. At that time I hope to get some rye started so it will get big enough to roll it or flatten it down between the rows.

buckeye,

I have 6 rows 175' of corn that is about 3-4" tall. I have to hide it form the crows by letting the weeds get a little tall. We have only had one rain since it was planted. So I may have to extend the irrigation and use sprinklers on it. I plan to save some of the drip line this year to use for the corn, onions and other things not under plastic next year.

Last year was the first year we were able to get any corn because of the crows. They pull it up Monday- Friday while I am at work and don't show up on Saturday when I can shoot them.

I bought one on those plastic Owls that supposed to scare the crows away and used it for a few years but it did not work. My wife went down to the field with me the other day and went over to get the owl to put him on a steak next to the corn.

She asked me why the owl had all these holes in it. I said he was not doing his job so I shot him

We have an owl like that... didn't work. Put scrap black plastic tubing along rows to look like black snakes.....didn't work. Hung old CD disks on twine around the edges near corn to sparkle in the sunlight and blow in the wind.... didn't work. Kept the seed rows wet.... didn't work.

Finally we planted the seed about 3" deep instead of the 1-1.5" deep as the seeds recommend. BINGO works great, the crows leave it alone and it comes up just as well as shallow planted. We have settled in on a variety the past couple years called " Gotta Have It" Terrible high price, but we get 2 pound at a time and split it with our son to lower the price and get free shipping.

We still hill it when it gets about a foot tall for wind protection.

So the crows hang around pouting, waiting to peck holes in the first ripe tomatoes:dance1::dance1:

Isn't gardening fun:confused2:

Do you think the black plastic and pruning of lower leaves will give you good protection from fungal pathogens?

We have always rotated the location of different vegetables in our garden, but it is claimed to not really give any protection. Can't hurt though.

With your set up you are pretty well committed to using the same area each year unless you have another field in the making.

 

[randy41]

the crows are a big problem here with sweet corn plantings and with watermelons. i quit growing sweet corn and now plant watermelons under netting.
I tried bird scare tape and scare eye balloons. the crows thought it was a party.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

pacerron, The plastic is supposed to help with fungal pathogens. We will just wait an see.

Randy, I had crows pulling pumpkin last year and this year they pull some onions up thinking they were corn!!!

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Here is some information I refer to for Tomatoes. The book is 2010 and put out by DuPont/Coragen. It is a vegetable crop handbook they give to growers. I made a copy if anyone is interested. It has the same info for just about any vegetable.

I mainly use it for disease and insect control if Neem Oil or Seven doesn't work. I will get the name of the chemical I need and go to the local feed/seed or Southern States to see if they have it or something comparable.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Looks like everything has taken a little growth spurt. The yellow squash has 5-6 squash on each plant. I was able to tie string for the beans which are putting their runners out.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

After about three weeks with no rain the last two evening it has poured. We have received 2+ inches each evening. This is another reason I decided to go with plastic. See attached picture; this is what I had once the rain stopped and I went to check things out. Brought back memories of the monsoon season last year.

The soil drains good so it should be dry this afternoon...however they are calling for more storms. Good for the corn, potatoes, onions and stuff.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Is the plastic totally impermeable or does it have micro holes in it?

 

[DFB]

Plastic mulch most growers use is solid. In areas that get decent amounts of rainfall water has no problem getting in, under, or around it, plus condensation can form underneath.


And it can come in assorted colors often for heat reduction or to enhance a specific crop yield university studies have been done on different colors but black is probably the most widely used for us here in the Northeast.

I have seen perforated plastic sold in the past mostly for home garden marketing.


The mil thickness being sold for me any ways has been getting thinner and thinner over the years. Thinness most probably a manufacturing cost saving also generally includes more feet per roll verses lifespan in the field or overall durability.

 

[randy41]

some plastic mulch is embossed which is supposed to get it to hug the soil better.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

I have not had time to update this thread (work is crazy and harvest has begun)but took a few pictures last night with my cell phone. Yellow squash, zucchini, and cucumbers are producing great. The transplants I set out, about 15 of each, are producing a half bushel every other day. The plants that I seeded in the plastic now have the first small fruit on them.

The green beans (mountain half runners) have been strung and are over 6' in places with tons of blooms and small beans on them, seeded direct in plastic.

Peppers: all have small peppers on them, cantaloupe and watermelon transplants have small fruit with direct seed starting to bloom.

I called my wife from the field and told her what I picked. It was sold before I got back to the house. We have a list of people we text during the week. They like bigger squash. The market people like small squash so this works out good.

Tomatoes have lots of green fruit on them however I have lost a few due to Southern Wilt. I think some of the seed I purchased was the problem. I have never had Southern Wilt before.

Over all I think the green beans, squash and cucumbers have done excellent on plastic. I have never in the past harvested this much on such few plants.

Okra seems to be doing good on plastic and it appears the tomatoes and peppers are ahead of last year with more fruit.

I have increased watering to 1 hour every other day now that fruit has appeared.

Went to two Saturday markets and sold herbs, new potatoes, squash, zucchini, and cucumbers. Sold out at both markets. The first two markets have paid for all the seed ordered for this year and next. I need a few more weeks to recoup all cost and then will start working on profit...if I don't count my labor

 

[hunterridgefarm]

I have been so busy lately I have not had time to update this thread. So this may be the final update (please hold the applause).

The plastic has been a great success. Harvest has been triple compared to last year. It has been hard to harvest all the produce and actually had to trough away some. Our market sales increased 300% (not counting what we sold during the week direct from the farm), which is a good thing and I have donated to several families, churches, and nursing homes.

I even had the Agriculture Extension Service in my county buying produce for events. I also donated to them for special projects at the county fairs.

Everything planted on plastic has produced excellent. My tomatoes did get a blight this year but that was not due to the plastic but rather me not having time to spray them properly.

The plastic and drip saved on weeding and hoeing but my labor increased due to the increase in production of crops. Almost to the point I did not care about the tomato blight

The deer fence worked great and I was able to take out a couple of groundhogs with the Browning 22:thumbsup:

I have planted late cukes, squash, and beans that are doing good and may plant some broccoli in a couple of weeks.

This was actually too much produce for a one man operation with having to work 45-50 hours a week at my job. However I do know now that if I can retire early I will be able to produce enough income to help pay bills and turn a profit.

Next year I will plant 50-75% less on quantity and increase verities and add additional crops.

Here is a picture of the market stand. It usually looks better but I forgot a lot of my display items that day. We really needed to go to two tents but I just did not have time to pick everything.

I had people on waiting list for some items and at times all I had to do was call and they would come to the farm and pick it up.

I am to the point that I am strongly considering spraying the entire 3 acres with roundup this weekend and getting ready for the winter cover crop

 

[sld]

That would be a great retirement gig! Nice job!

 

[snowbelt geauga]

Nice looking produce.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

snowbelt
Yes, the produce looked great. The plastic really helped keep it clean and for the most part disease free.

sld
We averaged $325.00 on the Saturday market which lasted 4 hours, not counting what we sold during the week.

 

[snowbelt geauga]

I am sold on plastic. I use it for all the produce I plant. It really helped plants from not drowning from all the rain we have gotten . Also helped keep the soil temps up. A very cool and wet summer in N.E. Ohio.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

My last update for the plastic.

Did my last big harvest for peppers this year. Frost should not be far away. I picked 20 bushels Saturday. I had not picked for about two weeks and peppers will produce till frost. Picked Bells, jalapenos, and sweet banana. I did not pick the two other hot peppers; maybe this week. I still have some late squash and beans, but I quit, I'm tired

Here is a picture of part of the haul. I donated all to the soup kitchen and food bank for my county. Total weight over 300 lbs, total dollar value $700.00. Good for taxes

Plastic did great and I have already removed it from most of the field and have my winter peas planted.

One other thing, I will not plant this many peppers next year