Time to Put Down Plastic

[hunterridgefarm]

I was able to lay a few rows of plastic Saturday and work the kinks out of my new mulch layer. It took about two or three rows to fine tune all the adjustments needed. Considering this is the first time I have ever used one and basically watched a YouTube vid to see how others did it; I think it turned out ok.

We laid 18-20 short rows (125')and two long rows before other projects called. The L3130 pulled the attachment with no problem, and there was no issue getting enough soil pulled in to form the hills. I used 48" plastic and put the drip line slightly off center for the tomatoes and centered it for my double row crops.

I will lay more rows this weekend if its not too wet. I also had the recommendations for lime and fertilizer from my soil test and tons needed per acre. I figured the amount need per square foot for an acre the the square foot for the width and length for the bed. I don't have the numbers in front of me now but it was around 6 lbs of triple 10 and 22 pounds of lime per row. So we would spread that in the row line before bedding the row. No need fertilizing the weeds between the rows and it save a few $$.

I will start laying the mainline and sub-main line for the drip this week or the first of next week. Test everything and run the irrigation 2-3 times before transplanting the last week of April.

I may use this thread to document my harvest as compared to last year when I did not use plastic or drip. This is a learning experience for me.

 

[oosik]

David -
So I guess this mulch laying implement will develop the shape(mound) of the row, lay down the tiny drip feeder pipe, then roll the dirt back over to secure the edges of the plastic. By the size of what you have already completed, in the pics, this is not a home garden. I remember last year the thread where you purchased the machine. Prior to having this ability did you do all this by hand? Will you feed the fertilizer & lime thru the drip irrigation system? I've never seen anything like what you have and we have some pretty large Chinese gardens in this area.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

oosik,

Yes, this implement does it all. I can lay the drip line ( adjustable depth and offset) and plastic at the same time. It is wider in the front so to pull the dirt in and mold the shape of the bed. The tires holds the plastic in place and the disc cover the plastic with dirt to hold it down.

The initial fertilizer was put down by hand. However I will purchase or make a fertilizer injector to pull the liquid fertilizer thru the drip lines.

Total under plastic will be 1-1.5 acres with the balance in conventional type rows for a total of 2.5-3 acres.

I did all this conventional last year and this should really cut back on my labor...hoeing weeding:thumbsup:. I work around 45 hours per week and occasionally have to travel overnight somewhere. So we will see how this goes. Weeding and hoeing like to have got the best of me last year. And once harvest is in full swing the weeds start taking over.

Thanks for the reply, I was beginning to wonder if this thread was interesting enough to get a reply.

We plan to sell a the Farmers Market like last year and hopefully more than one day per week. We only sold at the market on Saturday last year with some people coming by the house during the week to buy. Once we harvest we have a list of people my wife texts and its first come first serve. I do have a couple of customers that just give me a couple of hundred dollar at the beginning of harvest and tell me to let them know when they are running low and they will put more money in.

We plan to donate a lot to the soup kitchen this year since I don't try to sell everything but keep some for donation.

We hope to retire early and do this full time. We also have several other things related to agriculture to supplement income.

Thanks for the reply, I was beginning to wonder if this thread was interesting enough to get a reply.

 

[Western]

David, your rows are crooked! Sure looks good:thumbsup: and that machine is "neater than a sqeeters" p**ter"! You wont know what to do with all the free time now!!

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

What a neat contraption. There is a watermelon farm about 10 minutes west of College Station Texas (Home of the fighting Texas Aggies), that uses plastic rows to plant their seedlings. I would guess it is at least 50 acres, maybe more. They plant some type of knee high grass between the rows of plastic. Not sure if the grass is for a wind break, or to keep the watermelon vines in their respective rows. I think the equipment that works the fields has wheel spacings that match the grass rows.
Keep us posted on your outcome. I hope you don't have to pull a single weed!

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Dennis, The rows are not crooked, my son held the camera at a slight angle. Actually he gave me a hard time about not keeping the rows straight, however when I offered to let him drive the tractor...he said they looked fine. Trick is don't look back for too long.

Kyle,

Some people plant rye between the rows for wind brake, to keep weeds down, or let it dry then roll over it as a mulch between rows. I don't think I will have time to do that this year. If needed I will use a type of roller that applies roundup without the over-spray to control weeds once plants are to high to use the cultivators.

 

[charlz]

Looks good! Having done it by hand for my fewer and shorter rows I can only imagine how much nicer that is than using a shovel!

 

[charlz]

Dennis, The rows are not crooked, my son held the camera at a slight angle. Actually he gave me a hard time about not keeping the rows straight, however when I offered to let him drive the tractor...he said they looked fine. Trick is don't look back for too long.

I find the same thing when I till my raised beds... once you drop the implement it is better to just concentrate on keeping the tractor pointed straight ahead!

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Charlz,

You are right and I usually do that. But I had to make sure I was covering the plastic right and would make adjustments at the end of the row.

 

[MossRoad]

Looks good. I use plastic in my small garden every so often. I use drip irrigation as well, but I have one emitter for each plant. That wouldn't be practical for an operation your size. What type of hose do you use under the plastic?

 

[oosik]

Jeez, glad I got in early - its like opening a flood gate. Interesting, interesting. I have to go about 50 miles south to really find a good farmers market. And I've found that almost 100% of the local Chinese gardens got to their restaurants. Ha, ha - - weeding, a curse on the earth. When I had a large home garden I put the rows far enough apart so I could weed with my Troy Bilt tiller. It was always a challenge to till only the weeds and not the veggies. It will be very interesting to see your production differences between last year and this year. Anymore, I just don't have the back needed to weed a garden. My garden is a large hill of Butternut squash and one of Acorn squash.

 

[Western]

David, what are you going to grow? sure it isn't a cheap crop for the expense your going through. Specialty fruits/veggies? almost looks like a strawberry, or similar beds.

 

[EddieWalker]

We are just getting into gardening this year and have planted 4 rows, six feet wide and 150 feet long with a variety of veggies. We have room for at least twice that and maybe a little more. Since we are so new to this and lack any experience or knowledge of what is to come, can you explain what the plastic does and how much it costs? Do you lay a new drip line every year? Do you reuse it or get a new one? What are you growing?

Eddie

 

[Reyer Farms]

Looking good! Soil moisture looks good too! Is that a nolts? Your beds are 4" tall?
I have found it helps to lay in one direction and deadhead back to lay out next row. Does that make sense??? When you are pulling the bed you can't afford to look back, get used to how the rollers sound too so you know when something bad happens.

 

[MossRoad]

The plastic acts like mulch. It keeps the weeds down. It keeps the moisture in. It heats up the soil faster in the spring for warm soil loving crops like tomatoes. It keeps fruit off the dirt, like strawberries. You use less water and you spend less time weeding. You can feed the plants through the drip irrigation system..... etc...

 

[Otto Syracuse]

This will be a good thread to watch over the season. I helped my uncle make a plastic laying machine in the early 70's, my job was to walk behind with a shovel and fix mistakes or loose plastic while he drove the tractor.
We also laid clear plastic to start the sweet corn a couple of weeks earlier than the other farmers around. One tractor planted the seed then we followed along with clear plastic rows that acted like a greenhouse. When danger of frost was gone and the seeds had sprouted we cut small circles for the corn to come up through. After it was knee high, we cut the plastic down the middle and pulled it completely out. Man what a lot of labor involved all to be the first farmer at the market with fresh home grown sweet corn!

 

[snowbelt geauga]

I have been using plastic mulch for a few years now. There is a sizable increase in yield. I have been putting it down by hand. Hopefully not this year I ordered a Nolts 2 weeks ago but was told their is a 6 to 7 weeks back log.

 

[snowbelt geauga]

Calling for 1 to 3inches of snow today. Good thing I planted snow peas.:laughing:

 

[charlz]

We are just getting into gardening this year and have planted 4 rows, six feet wide and 150 feet long with a variety of veggies.

That is gonna be a lot of weeds!

We have room for at least twice that and maybe a little more. Since we are so new to this and lack any experience or knowledge of what is to come, can you explain what the plastic does and how much it costs? Do you lay a new drip line every year? Do you reuse it or get a new one? What are you growing?

Eddie

The plastic is mulch to keep the weeds down and the moisture in. It is quite nice to not have to weed pretty much every day all summer long when you have a big garden. I see the farmers roll up the drip tape at the end of the season but I doubt they re-use it.... too messy. I use the 1/2" black plastic pipe with those push-in emitters. Each spring I lay it out on the beds and run it for a bit while I go around and replace clogged emitters. Works fairly well, dealing with the 'extra' stuff and in the fall when you pull it off the beds is kind of a pain, seems to always be laying in the way of mowing etc. By 'extra' I mean I have certain hoses with different spacing. Some at 4' some at 2' some at 1'. What I am planting that season dictates what I use that year. Last year there were some cutbacks on water allotments and I saw a lot more drip tape go in on farms around here, especially in the areas where the soil type is kind of borderline for traditional flood irrigation.

I am also curious about the plastic costs.... stuff is not as cheap as it used to be. I haven't checked prices this year but IIRC a box of 4'x100' black plastic (4 mil? 6 mil?) runs about $16 at the local farm store. Only thing they have close to a row width. I would have to assume buying in bulk reduces your per square foot costs and maybe you can go a bit thinner?

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Dennis,

On the plastic I will plant around 400 tomatoes, 5 types; 350 pepper most will be 4 types of bell, with the balance being banana, jalapeno, and a few (5 plants each) cayenne, and piquine peppers; zucchini and yellow squash, cucumbers, green beans, okra, and a few other things. I am not sure if I will put cool season crops broccoli and lettuce on plastic this year. I my add those to the plastic for fall once harvest is complete, replacing one of the other crops on plastic.

On the part of the field not shown in the pictures I will have two 180' rows of Athena cantaloupes, and 2-3 rows of Crimson Sweet watermelons on plastic.

I currently have 100 lb of potatoes in the ground, 1500 onions, and some garlic that I planted last October. We will put crowder peas and fordhook limas on plastic or do those conventional.

I total expense for the plastic and drip is a little harder to figure since when I bought the layer it came with a full roll of drip tape and 75% roll of plastic. I did buy an extra roll of plastic 4000' x 4' for $130.00 (it may have been $140.00). A 7500' roll of drip tape is around $150.00.

So plastic and drip cost me $280.00 which will be an every year expense. It will be more if I increase the amount of plastic, which I plan to if this goes good.

I already had my main line but had to buy 400' of sub-main line and the connectors as well as a pressure regulator and a couple of pressure gauges, for a cost of around $220.00. This will not need to be replaced for several years.

So all said and done counting seeds, which I start in the greenhouse, fertilizer and lime I will have invested around $700.00 in getting this years crop in the ground. I will make that back in two weeks of market sales.

We paid for the mulch layer with last years market sales. Right now everything we make goes back into buying equipment and supplies. So after this year I should have everything I need and maybe make a little change.