I've used landscape fabric for mulch before,but can you you use black plastic? I've seen it used for strawberries and tomatoes.
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Plastic for mulch
- Thread starter Fastmontecarlo
- Start date
PaulG
Extreme Member
I tried black plastic a few times years ago, but thought the soil under it becomes a bit sour
with no air contact. The soil is a living organism and needs to breath and transpire just like
we do, and so that all the little organisms that live in it can have plenty of air and moisture, too.
Also, I believe that the cyanobacteria (?) that live in the top layers of the soil need sunlight
filtering down through the surface. I know that folk mulch with plastic, especially in big
commercial plantings - I wonder if they pull the plastic periodically so the soil can recover ?
with no air contact. The soil is a living organism and needs to breath and transpire just like
we do, and so that all the little organisms that live in it can have plenty of air and moisture, too.
Also, I believe that the cyanobacteria (?) that live in the top layers of the soil need sunlight
filtering down through the surface. I know that folk mulch with plastic, especially in big
commercial plantings - I wonder if they pull the plastic periodically so the soil can recover ?
Makes sense to me thanks
I use black plastic mulch, cause I despise hoeing, and It works OK, no complaints. Install a drip system, cover it with plastic and give it a whirl.
Believe it or not....Silver is the right color! Not black...also cures the potential soil too warm bit because it will keep soil a few degrees cooler.
http://growingtaste.com/mulches.shtml
It reflects light to the underside of the leaves plus repels aphids and other pests...there is a thread on here about is somewhere too. Something like a 20% increase in yield. The studies are impressive. In cooler climates they're testing striped black/silver with good results as well. I'll see if I can find the thread...
http://www.thehotpep...__fromsearch__1
http://growingtaste.com/mulches.shtml
It reflects light to the underside of the leaves plus repels aphids and other pests...there is a thread on here about is somewhere too. Something like a 20% increase in yield. The studies are impressive. In cooler climates they're testing striped black/silver with good results as well. I'll see if I can find the thread...
http://www.thehotpep...__fromsearch__1
Biscoff is right, once your plants spread their wings and shade the mulch it just inhibits weeds and conserves moisture, but if you install the mulch a couple of weeks before your plant out date it will warm the soil, keep it warmer at night and give your plants an early boost. Black is best at warming the soil. North or South, warm soil in the Spring is good. Later in the summer when the weather heats up, the mulch is shaded out by your plants if all goes as planned. Just be sure to test your drip system before you cover it with the plastic. 
I'm telling you its all about the silver plastic mulch! Out performs all other colors! Plus repels insects as well as pesticides do...if I was going to use plastic, silver is the color I would use...its been tested from California to Maine. Only problem for me is its not permeable...and I don't really want to change the irrigation system I am already using.
I had a mix last year of some plants in the ground with straw mulch, some in black plastic pots (10 gallon), and some hilled beds with black plastic mulch. The peppers under the plastic mulch definitely outperformed all others. We had an extended heatwave in St. Louis last year and the mulched plants still only needed watering once a week as opposed to everyday for the others. It also seemed to cut down on the heat stress. I will be trying the silver this year for a few hundred plants.
a few hundred...lol. Like Baker's talking about starting his 10000 plants...I hope to have a grow like that when I retire...got 150 acres to play with. I have my folks feeding the cattle heavily on the 10 acres I plan to start on...so the fertilizer factories are already hard at work amending the soil for me. I will spend the next few years learning my lessons vicariously through you guys, and with my small backyard grows. Keep me posted on how the silver does...I am thinking of trying aluminet shade cloth as a groundcover so I can water through it...
That shade cloth is going to be an awfully expensive ground cover. I know in my area if I put that stuff down the crab grass would grow right through it and I would never get it back off the ground. I hope to do a grow log this year with the silver plasticulture but I say that every year and I never actually have time to do it.
Yeah...but for us small time growers the 4 x 50 ft rolls are comparable at about $15. If you factor in the potential reduced cost of fighting pests along with the claimed 20% increase in production...could still be worth it. Especially if you can get more than 1 season out of it. If any of you decide to use it...I will be sure to follow closely.
For the difference in price the silver isn't worth it IMO, especially when it will be quickly shaded out by your pepper plants. Here's what mine did last season in one month.
Peppers 6-15-11
Peppers 6-25-11
Peppers 7-2-11
Peppers 7-9-11
Peppers 7-16-11
Not much light reaching the mulch is there?
Peppers 6-15-11
Peppers 6-25-11
Peppers 7-2-11
Peppers 7-9-11
Peppers 7-16-11
Not much light reaching the mulch is there?
Great looking garden there SS! Im going for it! I got my seeds soaking on the pad and plan on planting in rapid rooters around 150 peppers this year ! Lots of tomatoes ground cherries kale and PEANUTS ha ha! I guess I should start a grow log?