[CH] More on Mulches
Uncle Steve (chiles@flash.net)
Wed, 17 May 2000 13:27:39 -0400
When, where, how much, what kind and what color... the great debate goes on.
The practice of mulching (or not) will always be an individual thing.
Commercial growers that use it most often use the black plastic. The automatic
hiller with plastic mulch machine is a labor saver. But for the small scale CHs
there is a wide array of choices.
No matter what type of mulch you decide on there are a few things that remain
constant.
Do not heavy mulch the plants in early spring. It will insulate the ground so
that the sun can not warm it. Once the warm/hot days arrive, mulch to conserve
water, prevent weeds and keep the soil cooler.
Use caution with hay and straw mulch. Many contain weed seeds. Also in many
areas a loose thick mulch attracts mice, moles, voles and rats.
One trick to heat your soil for early planting of peppers is to thoroughly
prepare the soil for planting, then cover the soil with black plastic. This
will allow sunlight to trap the heat under the plastic. You can start this very
early in the spring. A bonus to this is that the warmth will cause weed seeds
to germinate, and then the intense heat and lack of light will kill the weeds.
One or two weeks after the last frost, remove the plastic, and set in your
pepper plants without disturbing the soil any more than necessary to avoid
turning up new weed seeds.
Steve
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