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Plastic Mulch

muskymojo

muskymojo

I have a raised bed and some containers, but I plan on adding a ground garden this year. I would like to try plastic mulch to conserve water and control weeds. It comes in black, white, red... What's the best color? I would imagine black would keep the soil the warmest. Also, how is it different from regular black plastic? Can I just use regular black plastic, or is there something special about plastic mulch? Does it breath or something? Is a soaker hose or something needed under it, or can you still hand water with it? I like the idea of it, but I obviously don't know much about it.
Any help with this would be great!
 
Hay MM how,s It going?

Here is a thread to look at while you are waiting for some replies, I think that popper asked the same question on the second page.

I plant a half acre in plastic so I may know a little about It, If you have any additional q's after the link let me know, I will do my best to answer!:)

SC

link
 
Spicy Chicken said:
Hay MM how,s It going?

Here is a thread to look at while you are waiting for some replies, I think that popper asked the same question on the second page.

I plant a half acre in plastic so I may know a little about It, If you have any additional q's after the link let me know, I will do my best to answer!:)

SC

link
Click to expand...

It's going great! You? I was actually hoping you would reply to this thread, because I noticed a while back that you used plastic mulch. Thanks for the link! I've been making a lot of sauces with your peppers, and I have a roasted garlic one that I'm really happy with. When I get a PH tester, I will send you some if you want. I don't really want to give any away until I know it's totally safe. So far, so good though.

So, from what I gathered from Pooper's thread is:
1. black plastic mulch is good
2. you can still hand water while using it
3. the "real deal" is better than regular black plastic
4. it does a good job conserving water and controlling weeds

Sounds like a winner!
Anything else I should know?
I'll look around for a smaller quantity though, because I only have a small city lot to work with. :mope:

Thanks!
 
muskymojo said:
It's going great! You? I was actually hoping you would reply to this thread, because I noticed a while back that you used plastic mulch. Thanks for the link! I've been making a lot of sauces with your peppers, and I have a roasted garlic one that I'm really happy with. When I get a PH tester, I will send you some if you want. I don't really want to give any away until I know it's totally safe. So far, so good though.

So, from what I gathered from Popper's thread is:
1. black plastic mulch is good
2. you can still hand water while using it
3. the "real deal" is better than regular black plastic
4. it does a good job conserving water and controlling weeds

Sounds like a winner!
Anything else I should know?
I'll look around for a smaller quantity though, because I only have a small city lot to work with. :mope:

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I'm doing pretty good, would feel a lot better if this darn rain would stop! have been so busy now that the snow is gone, spending time here at the forum is limited but still get the emails on posts.

That is so cool you are putting your winnings to good use and yes, would love to try some sometime.:woohoo:

Popper had the same wants as you but had a real limited budget as we all do, he was planning it for a garden style app not raised beds, so my recommendation for you is maybe consider landscape cloth, the water will run through it when it rains, but evaporation will be minimal, and can be used for more then one year, It will have the same Benny's as you mentioned above but more cost effective for smaller areas. If you can find the black plastic mulch in a smaller quantity by all means!:dance:

You living in zone 4 same as me, the black is a huge benny and should go in now asap to help start getting that soil temp up, wow what a huge difference that made for growth and production last year!:)

I am no expert in the matter, but in my experience I see no down side.

Keep me up to date on your progress, am very interested to see what you chose and what difference it makes for you!:cool:

Cheers, SC
 
Well, you know what my input is on this subject. I've had great success with straw mulch, but that's just me. If you use synthetic mulch, I would suggest going with a geotextile type material so you can reuse it. Do you concur Mr. Chicken?
 
OK, I misunderstood!

I have a neighbors that use land scape cloth in their garden, It works but not very well! but they are a dozen Fry's short of a happy meal anyway!!!!!!! May work for you just fine.

The company I mentioned in poppers post does have smaller quantities, good for a couple of years or so. again the right product for the right application. around here within ten miles there are hundreds of acres covered in plastic right now, anything from peppers to punkins. some blue some red and some green along with black.
 
RedtailForester said:
Well, you know what my input is on this subject. I've had great success with straw mulch, but that's just me. If you use synthetic mulch, I would suggest going with a geotextile type material so you can reuse it. Do you concur Mr. Chicken?
Click to expand...

I do concur master forester! If MM decides to go that route and if readily available.
 
I use filter fabric ( landscape fabric) the good woven kind not the cheap more or less tar paper kind. I love it. We used black plastic in the past but it collected water on top
 
I'm using some black woven fiber type of mulch from Lowe's, and I like it. Water goes through it pretty easily, and it keeps things nice and clean at the soil line. I can kneel down on the mulch while I'm planting. The only issue I've had is that the pins I use to keep it down don't seem to want to stay down, partly from the heavy winds we've had recently and partly from the dogs running across it. I've added some some large rocks and pieces of concrete to try to keep it in place. The closest part where the tomatillos are needs to be straightened out and pinned down better, I'll probably do that in a bit. I've also been trimming the foliage along the fence to let more light in, so it's a little messy around there right now. I'm in Zone 5, so I think the black mulch is probably good for keeping my soil warm. IIRC though, in The Complete Chile Pepper Book they referenced some study that showed that said white was the best, probably because of the extra reflected light. It probably depends on the climate though.

0514011531.jpg
 
MM we have been using plastic mulch for years now and it is GREAT! We use black. It keeps the heat and moisture in really well and keeps weeds away. I have a link somewhere I will try and find on the different colors and what they are best used for, can't remember off the top of my head. Either way, it does work really well.
 
I ordered 100'x3' black plastic mulch for $13.32 shipped. 1.3 mil thickness. I'm going to have 4 16' rows with plastic mulch. I think I'm going to use landscape fabric between the raised rows with wood chips on top so there will be no exposed dirt in the whole garden, and no weeds. Then a 2' rabbit fence around the whole thing. :woohoo:
 
Sounds Excelontaaaaaaaa!

Brake out the transit strait and level now :)

I want to see some pics when you get the beds done before and after the plants go in!

Happy hoeing, SC
 
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