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Show Gardening: Using Black Plastic Mulch Black plastic mulch can give you a definite advantage in your vegetable garden if it is used correctly. The advantages advan-tages are three-fold: it conserves con-serves moisture, it controls weeds, and it warms up the soil for better germination and growth. COVERING THE ground with black plastic in April and May is expensive, but the plastic will remain on the ground throughout the growing grow-ing season, and the benefits will be realized throughout the entire time. Tomatoes respond well to the use of black plastic, while melons and squash also prosper with this treatment. Cantaloupe and watermelon planted in jiffy pots in April, then transplanted into the garden in May through black plastic will show outstanding results in earlier yield and better flavored melons. PLANTING seeds directly through the plastic is also advised. You can apply the black plastic yourself without additional help. It is suggested suggest-ed you make sure the plastic is anchored firmly on all edges. It must be anchored so that no wind will get underneath it and whip it off and destroy the plants which have been planted through the plastic. THE PLASTIC is spread over the ground and small cuts made in order to insert into damp, moist soil underneath. under-neath. The germination process for the seeds planted this way will be very rapid, and the plants produced will grow particarly well. Black plastic should not be used on all garden vegetables. Small vegetable like lettuce and carrots would be difficult to plant in this way, although the black plastic could be used to cover the space between the rows. IN GENERAL, the plastic treatment can be beneficial if used on such plants as tomatoes, toma-toes, peppers, eggplants, watermelons, wa-termelons, cantaloupes, squash and cucumbers. Additional information may be obtained by contacting Robert Hassell at the Extension Exten-sion Service in Salt Lake City. |