07/11/1995

Plasticulture Highlights Sand Mountain Field Day

CROSSVILLE, Ala. - Growing vegetables on plastic was pioneered in Israel and the concept has grown rapidly in the U.S. Sand Mountain area commercial vegetable growers and home gardeners saw the latest in plasticulture during a recent Fruit and Vegetable Field Day at the Sand Mountain Substation here.

Auburn researcher Eric Simonne noted that the cost of applying plastic and drip irrigation lines can reach $3,000 per acre. However, many crops will yield three to four times as much as plants grown on bare ground. And, most crops grown on plastic mature two to three weeks earlier, giving the grower a tremendous marketing advantage.

"Black plastic helps control weeds, it produces a barrier that reducing leaching of pesticides into the soil, and when combined with drip irrigation lines, it allows people to work in the field at any time during the cropping season," according to Auburn researcher Joe Kemble.

Currently, China has more acres under plastic than any other country, but vegetable growing areas in Florida and California are pushing U.S. plasticulture acres up, Kemble noted.

In addition to plastic mulches, Auburn researcher Beth Guertal told the growers that for home gardens and smaller commercial operations other mulching options are available. In her tests for the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, Guertal found that wood chips produced nearly as high yields of collards as plastic. However, she warned that mulches from ground up newspaper did not work well in tests with collards at the 536-acre Sand Mountain Substation.

Simonne, who heads Auburn's vegetable variety testing program, told the growers the first step in vegetable production is selecting the right variety. Vegetable varieties, he noted, are tested by the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station at nine sites across the state.

In addition to vegetables, the visitors saw results of plum variety testing at the Substation. Auburn researcher George Boyhan noted that much of the disease resistance being bred into commercial plums comes from wild plum varieties. Plums, such as AU Amber, AU Producer and AU Roadside combine large size and sweet flavor of commercially accepted varieties, with the natural resistance of native plums.

Commercial growers and home gardeners from DeKalb, Marshall, Madison, Jackson and Cherokee counties attended the meeting. "Vegetable production has been a staple of the small family farms that characterize Sand Mountain, and we were pleased at the turnout and interest in our research programs," noted John Eason, superintendent of the Sand Mountain Substation.

-30-

News from:

Office of Ag Communications & Marketing

Auburn University College of Agriculture
Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
3 Comer Hall, Auburn University
Auburn, AL 36849
334-844-4877 (PHONE) 334-844-5892 (FAX)

Contact Jamie Creamer, 334-844-2783 or jcreamer@auburn.edu
by Roy Roberson

07/11/95