Why clear plastic?
Hi Doug,
I have three raised beds I use for growing vegetables and have a heck of a time keeping them weed-free during off season. Why do you suggest clear plastic for weed control/soil heating/insect egg burning, etc.? Would the soil heat faster and solve more problems using heavy duty contractor black trash bags weighted down by rocks or bricks, or am I missing the point here?
If clear is the answer, how thick a gauge and how do you keep it in place? I'm guessing in the midwest USA it would be something found at one of the big hardware stores.
Thanks for all the wonderful things you do for all of who play in the dirt each year. Greetings to your Princess and tell her the only tomato I'm starting from seed this year is Mayo's Delight. It will be the first year I try it as the description sounds fabulous.
Jan
Doug says - clear plastic acts as a mini-greenhouse, allowing uv-rays through to the soil to heat it up. Black plastic doesn't allow this but heats up and traps heat mechanically. If you really want to heat up the soil - or sterilize it - then you leave the clear plastic on all summer.
But you only use clear plastic to heat up the soil - never as a mulch or with plants growing through it. The clear stuff will kill plant roots quite nicely (I use it to kill grass in new beds).
The black stuff makes a decent growing mulch and prevents weeds from germinating without too much heat buildup in the soil. But it's not the best for spring soil heating or soil sterilization.
I use whatever is cheapest - and I weight down the edges with 2x4 and cement blocks or whatever else I have lying around - just so the wind doesn't whip it up and off.
Hope that helps.
