[Growwine] Plastic mulch, Wavelength selective mulches

[Steve Melchiskey]

I've used the woven black mulch for a full 3 years now.....no  
problems except those identified by Alain. The other issue is that  
the behind the tractor mower doesn't get near enough to the mulch  
line, so there is a 4 inch row of weeds I have to weed whack, and  
deal with or they get very, very high. I don't use round up, but am  
tempted (too bad I grow organic). It actually has been the best thing  
I did for my vineyard and my back. I highly recommend it......

I have also been thinking of pulling up the mulch and planting a low,  
dwarf grass where the mulch was.....some way of using the bare ground  
as a transition point. Haven't figured this out yet. Need an  
aggressive growing, dwarf grass......

best,
steve
maine coast vineyards



  n Jun 5, 2008, at 9:37 AM, Alain Breault wrote:

> There is vineyards in Quebec with black plastic mulch for over 12  
> years and
> so far no problem , roots are not shallow and soil is alive. Round- 
> up was
> used after 5-6 years because too many bad weed growing in every  
> accidental
> holes
> Alain Breault
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Michele Roberge" <fleurdelis at gwi.net>
> To: <growwine at littlefatwino.com>
> Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2008 9:07 AM
> Subject: Re: [Growwine] Plastic mulch, Wavelength selective mulches
>
>
>> Paul,
>> The use of black ground covering mulch has been studied for the mass
>> production greenhouse growing industry,  it was found that  
>> initially there
>> was good soil activity (worms and such) beneath but in a season or  
>> two the
>> soil virtually "died" under the barrier cloth.  This is the usual
>> industrial
>> heavy stuff with lines on it.  The thought was to plant in holes  
>> or slices
>> cut through.  The Master Gardeners are taught to use newspaper 
>> (black &
>> white
>> is vegetable based ink) under mulch.  This degrades in a season with
>> enough
>> time to kill weeds beneath.  Clear plastic solarization only  
>> created a
>> greenhouse for the grass under it in my cool area.
>>
>> Michele
>>
>> Paul Bulas writes:
>>
>>> I have some personal experience here.   Some years ago, I planted  
>>> a vine
>>> against a fence.  Covering the bare ground between the fence and the
>>> concrete walkway was a piece of cloth-type black material which  
>>> itself
>>> was covered over with white landscaping stones.  A year later, my  
>>> vine
>>> pushed new growth ... and suddenly died.  Perplexed, I dug up the  
>>> vine
>>> and examined the roots - they had rotted completely, and were  
>>> black and
>>> dead - and there was a moldy odour coming from under the fabric.  I
>>> subsequently ripped out the fabric entirely (it had originally  
>>> been put
>>> there to control weeds) and covered the immediate area with just the
>>> white landscaping stones.  Since then, my replacement vine has  
>>> thrived,
>>> and only occasional weeds have popped up, which are no problem to  
>>> remove
>>> by hand.  So it seems that roots need to breathe too.
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----
>>> From: Dolores Smith <dolores_solutions at yahoo.ca>
>>> To: growwine at littlefatwino.com
>>> Sent: Wednesday, June 4, 2008 12:14:02 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [Growwine] Plastic mulch, Wavelength selective mulches
>>>
>>>
>>> I was advised by an OMAFRA grape specialist not to use plastic mulch
>>> given a negative effect on the vine's root system.  He suggested
>>> landscaping cloth if I wanted to pursue that type of a weed  
>>> block...then.
>>> a landscaper informed me that the regular landscaping cloth  
>>> purchased at
>>> retail would not do the job well and the higher quality professional
>>> cloth would be too expensive for that type of an application.
>>>
>>> Last season I used straw mulch.  I also had more problems with  
>>> powdery
>>> mildew than write-ups for cold hardy grapes indicate should  
>>> occur, so
>>> perhaps it was the season last year or the fact that straw  
>>> supports the
>>> spread of powdery mildew...?
>>>
>>> Dolores Smith
>>> Erin, ON
>>>
>>>
>>>        
>>> __________________________________________________________________
>>> Ask a question on any topic and get answers from real people. Go to
>>> Yahoo! Answers and share what you know at http:// 
>>> ca.answers.yahoo.com
>>
>>
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