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Plastic Sheeting for covering beds

P. Dreadie

P. Dreadie

How many people here use plastic sheeting to cover their beds to help warm up the soil and kill weed seeds ?

Those who do .... do you use black or clear plastic . And how long before you plan on planting do you cover your bed area ?

Thanks and Peace,
P. Dreadie
 
I'm going to use black plastic mulch this year and give my hoe a rest. You want to get the mulch installed about 2 weeks b4 you set out your plants.
 
Short answer- use the black 'breathable' weed guard cover, but only if you have a serious weed problem, and consider rolling it back immediately prior to planting out.

Long rambling screed-
I covered about half of my garden last season with the black breathable landscaping stuff, but that's only because it was given to me free :lol:
There are different opinions on whether to use clear or black- I forget what the exact theories are, it's something like 'use clear because the sun comes in, warms up the soil and allows the weeds to germinate but they get choked off under the clear' versus 'use the black, because the black collects the heat of the sun but doesn't allow sunlight to penetrate so the weeds never germinate'
Both theories sound plausible enough I suppose- so does the theory held by many that any sort of non-mulch cover will not allow rainwater to evenly soak through the soil and will restrict oxygen absorption. I've seen some incredibly productive gardens grown by people who subscribe to each of the differing theories.
That all being said- and now that everyone including myself is sufficiently confused- my plans for this year are to cover the entire garden with the (free) black landscaping when there is still snow on the ground in order to speed up the thaw, melt the snow early, and hopefully get the weeds that completely overwhelmed me last year to sprout early. Once they've sprouted up a few inches, I'm going to employ a scorched earth policy with a few tanks of propane. Depending on how malevolent I feel, I may then cover up with the black again for a few days to lure out any other weeds (AND SLUGS, AS GOD IS MY WITNESS I HATE ME SOME SLUGS) to burn up again prior to planting out.
I don't know whether I'll keep the covering on after planting or not- I would rather not, since I know that even the 'breathable' stuff does not allow even water absorption (you can see water pool up in spots when it rains) but if I have weeds like I had last year, I may have no choice but to cover up.
 
I am a big boy, I dont need plastic sheets on my bed anymore. I use a comforter to keep warm. I also move around enough at night to squash all weeds that may grow. LMAO!!!!!
 
I definitely would not use clear as you wouldn't stop the weeds. The black will stop the weeds, just be sure and install a good drip irrigation system first b4 installing the plastic. I've used it before under tomatoes and was hauling 5 gallon buckets full daily from the garden mid summer. I didn't stake the maters either and just let them sprawl on top of the plastic.

I purchased enough 1.25 mil mulch (4' x 2400') to cover my garden 3 times for $107 delivered. For $35 per year for the next 3 I'll gladly leave the hoe in the garage. :lol:
 
Actually, the clear plastic will act like a greenhouse and will greatly raise the temp of the soil. High enough to not only fry the weeds, seeds, and both the beneficially and harmful microbes in the top several inches of the soil. It is better used to solarize the soil and "clean" it. The black plastic is good to warm the soil a bit and help to control the weeds. The black will absorb the heat and believe it or not, does not get as hot as if you used the clear. I would not use the clear plastic as a mulch for this reason. You will fry your plants.

JMO
jacob
 
There is a green plastic now that warms the soil more than the black, but since you're down south like me I wouldn't recommend it.

For solarization of the ground with clear you need to support it several inches above ground. Even so I think it would take a couple of seasons here to eradicate nut grass. That stuff is tuff.
devilsmokin.gif
 
Luckily I don't have nut grass in my garden, just bermuda.....:(

The only time I use the plastic mulch is with melons to get the soil warm in early spring. But I put pine straw, or wheat straw a couple inches thick when the temps start getting in the 80's consistantly. I have never had to solarize, and hopefully never do. The only problems I have is the common early blight on tomatoes. Solarizing won't help that since it spreads too easy by wind. Hopefully it won't rain 4 times a week this summer so I can keep up on a spray regimine this year.

jacob
 
I've got nut, bermuda, bahia, crab and johnson grass and what ever other weed or grass seed blows in. Winter cover crops help some but bermuda, like nut grass, can't be killed by plowing it under. Early blight doesn't bother me too much here; it's the late blight that reeks havoc. :(
 
Yeah, I got lots of crab grass as well. Seems like no matter how much mulch I put down, the bermuda and crab find a way to come through it. Most of the other weeds are some nightshade, plantain, and dandelions, lots of dandelions. Luckily I missed out on the big late blight outbreak last year, but the early blight probably cut my production by half on the toms before I got a lull in the rain long enough to get it under control.
 
Jesus Christ.
So I've heard about the green covering before- yet another plausible theory, that asserts that clear plastic warms more than black plastic, and the green tinted plastic warms as much as the clear does, but it filters out light in the spectrum used in photosynthesis, thereby 'choking out' the weeds under it.
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!!!
What about SILVER plastic! For bugs dontcha know! Or no wait- what about RED for maters!!!

Ugh. My head hurts. I need a beer.
 
Green gets almost as warm as clear but not quite. I tried the red under maters 4 years ago and it doesn't work worth a damn down south. Northerners may have better luck, but down here the weeds flourished under the stuff and the maters did rather poorly. Yeah silver is supposed to confuse the bugs so they can't tell up from down.
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I haven't experimented with brown but you left out another color that's good for melons, cukes and squash...... BLUE.
insane.gif
 
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