Using cover crops to create an

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1 A16- Plstic, fbric, nd mrsh hy mulch with no-till orgnic tomtoes Project timeline: Key findings Tomto yields were the sme for ll the no-till mulches nd the conventionlly tilled nd plstic mulched. Given tht there ws no yield penlty, it is worth experimenting with no-till tomtoes, especilly when wet soils prevent or dely tillge. Soil temperture under the mrsh hy ws significntly lower thn the other two tretments nd the. Tomto hrvest from the mrsh hy plots ws equl to, but peked lter thn, the other tretments, likely due to the lower soil temperture. Lbor in ech no-till system ws different, with the mrsh hy requiring the lest time nd the plstic requiring the most. The required less time thn ny of the no-till systems. Weed under ll the no-till mulches ws excellent, even though they were pplied directly on top of sprouted weeds. Bckground Using cover crops to crete n in-situ mulch is one wy tht orgnic frmers cn explore no-till techniques. While there hs been some success with orgnic no-till row crops, orgnic no-till vegetbles remin conundrum. Indequte weed, nrrow cover crop termintion windows, nd plnting delys relted to termintion re ll chllenges. This project ws originlly designed to look t the use of seson-long, mnged fllow concluding with high-residue, winter-killed cover crops to crete weed-free mulch tht does not need exct timing or specil equipment for termintion. The primry cover crop ws sorghum sudngrss, which is known for producing lrge mounts of biomss. Tomtoes were to be no-till plnted into the residue in yer of the project. Before tomto plnting, it ws cler tht the sorghum sudngrss residue would not provide dequte weed for the cropping yer. (See Sorghum Sudngrss Residue s Mulch for No-Till Orgnic Tomtoes.) The project then pivoted to look t three supplementl mulch mterils used to exclude weeds in the no-till tomtoes. Methods Three diversified vegetble frms in Dne County, Wisconsin, prticipted in this project. All the frms re certified orgnic. Ech frm hd three replictes of three no-till mulch tretments pplied over the sorghum sudngrss residue: (1) green or blck plstic, () blck lndscpe fbric, nd () mrsh hy. The ws mnged with conventionl tillge nd green or blck plstic mulch. All plots were irrigted with drip tpe under the mulch. The tomto vriety, Monic, determinte pste tomto ws used. Yer 1 Cover crops were estblished to reduce weeds nd crete n in-situ mulch for no-till /6: Seeded ots (8 lbs/cre) nd chickling vetch (5 lb/cre); tilled to kill weeds nd work in seed. 6/: Mowed ots nd chickling vetch; seeded buckwhet (8 lb/cre); tilled to kill ots/vetch nd work in buckwhet seed. 7/1: Seeded sorghum sudngrss (8 lb/cre), sunn hemp (8 lb/cre), nd cow pes (8 lb/cre) into stnding buckwhet ccording to rndomized tretment plot mp; tilled to kill buckwhet nd work in seed. 7/7: Reseeded t Blue Moon nd Crossrods where sorghum sudngrss did not germinte well. 1/: Rolled cover crops with disengged rotovtor just before frost to knock over nd lign biomss into n even mulch mt.

2 PLASTIC, FABRIC, AND MARSH HAY MULCH WITH NO-TILL ORGANIC TOMATOES Yer Tomtoes were plnted into sorghum sudngrss residue Week of 5/: Prepred with trctor drwn tiller nd plstic mulch lyer; hnd-lid -ft-wide plstic mulch nd lndscpe fbric tretments directly over live weeds; plnted tomtoes in single rows, 7 ft on center, 18 inches between plnts; lid -ftwide mrsh hy mulch tretment directly over live weeds. 6/1: Weeded ll isles. 6/1: Weeded ll isles; brodcst seeded nnul ryegrss (5 lb/cre) nd Dutch white clover (1 lb/cre) s living isle; weeded ll isles second time to work in seed. 6/1: Instlled posts nd strung first line of bsket weve trellis. July: Mowed isles, spryed for disese, nd trellised s needed. 7/6 to 9/6: Hrvested tomtoes weekly. First qulity (left) nd second qulity (right) tomtoes. Wounds on the right cused by hil. Equinox Community Frm, 8/15/17 nd Crossrods Community Frm, 8/16/17 No-till tril (left to right): No-till mrsh hy, no-till lndscpe fbric, no-till plstic,. Blue Moon Community Frm, 6/1/17

3 U N I V E R S I T Y O F W I S C O N S I N - E X T E N S I O N Lbor time, soil temperture, plnt survivl, nd vegetble yield were recorded. An nlysis of vrince (ANOVA) ws conducted using the R pckge lme (Btes et l. 15). Mens were compred with the R pckge lss (Lenth 16). A confidence level of 9% ws used, ing tht for ech comprison tht is sttisticlly significnt, we re 9% confident tht the difference is due to the tretments nd not to chnce vrition. Results Tomto yield Mrketble tomtoes were hrvested weekly nd sorted into first nd second qulity fruits. Non-mrketble fruits were left in the field. First qulity fruits were mostly blemish free, with one smll green shoulder or smll heled scr llowed. Second qulity fruits were smll in size or hd lrger heled blemishes (mny cused by multiple hil events). In some cses, second qulity fruits were beginning to show signs of disese. Non-mrketble fruits were very smll, disesed, or hd open wounds. First qulity yield is the most importnt mesure becuse those tomtoes will fetch the highest price. There ws no difference in first qulity yield between the no-till or the, nor ws there difference mong the three no-till tretments. First qulity yield verged.58 lb/plnt (figure 1). Mrketble weight 1sts (lbs/plnt) 5 1 BM mrketble weight 1sts (lbs/plnt) 1 fbric fbric tretment tretment hy hy plstic plstic CR mrketble weight 1sts (lbs/plnt) fbric tretment hy plstic EQ mrketble weight 1sts (lbs/plnt) 5 1 fbric hy plstic tretment Figure 1. First qulity Error yield brs for ech re stndrd tretment error overll of (top) the nd for ech individul frm (bottom) mesured in pounds per plnt (lb/plnt). Error brs represent the stndrd error of the. Mens with the sme letter re not significntly different from ech other t the 9% confidence level (BM = Blue Moon Community Frm, CR = Crossrods Community Frm, EQ = Equinox Community Frm).

4 PLASTIC, FABRIC, AND MARSH HAY MULCH WITH NO-TILL ORGANIC TOMATOES Mrketble weight totl (lbs/plnt) 8 6 fbric fbric fbric tretment tretment tretment hy BM mrketble weight totl (lbs/plnt) hy hy plstic plstic CR mrketble weight totl (lbs/plnt) 9 6 plstic EQ mrketble weight totl (lbs/plnt) 7.5 Becuse there were severl hil events t ech of the frms right fter fruit set, mny tomtoes were clssified s seconds tht would otherwise hve been firsts. Thus, it is useful to lso consider totl yield. Totl yield followed the sme pttern s the first qulity yield nd verged 6.1 lb/plnt (figure ). Soil temperture Soil temperture ws recorded 6 times between June 7th nd September 8th. As expected, the soil temperture under the light-colored mrsh hy ws lower thn the soil under either the plstic or lndscpe fbric by -, which ws significnt difference (figure ). Though there ws no sttisticl difference in the first qulity yield or totl yield from the mrsh hy mulch, the hrvest from those plots cme on slower nd cught up with the other tretments bout six weeks into the hrvest (figure ). Lbor Mngement time for ech tretment ws trcked in minutes. Lying mulch, plnting, weeding, trellising, nd removing mulch nd trellis mterils were ll trcked. Becuse hrvest lbor is primrily dependent on yield nd is not ffected by the mulch tretment, it ws not trcked nd is not included in the lbor totls. Lbor time did vry for ech no-till tretment nd the, with the requiring the lest time nd the no-till plstic mulch requiring the most time (figure 5) fbric hy plstic tretment Error brs re stndrd error of the Figure. Totl yield for ech tretment overll (top) nd for ech individul frm (bottom) mesured in pounds per plnt (lb/plnt). Error brs represent the stndrd error of the. Mens with the sme letter re not significntly different from ech other t the 9% confidence level (BM = Blue Moon Community Frm, CR = Crossrods Community Frm, EQ = Equinox Community Frm).

5 U N I V E R S I T Y O F W I S C O N S I N - E X T E N S I O N Figure. Soil temperture per tretment, mesured in degrees Fhrenheit ( F). Error brs represent the stndrd error of the. Mens with the sme letter re not significntly different from ech other t the 9% confidence level. 6 Soil temperture (degrees F) Figure. Cumultive first qulity tomto yield by tretment, mesured in pounds per plnt (lb/plnt). lbs/plnt fbric Figure 5. Lbor per tretment mesured in minutes per 1-ft bed (min/1 bed). Error brs represent the stndrd error of the. Mens with the sme letter re not significntly different from ech other t the 9% confidence level d plstic fbric hy b tretment Lbor (minutes, excluding hrvest) b hy c plstic 7/6 8/ 8/9 8/16 8/ 8/ 7/6 9/6 9/1 9/ Lying plstic by hnd over untilled ground t digging shllow trench round the stretched plstic nd burying the edges with shovels. The process ws not only time consuming, but lso difficult. A nrrow trowel ws used to crete smll plnting hole in the plstic. Tht sme process ws used in the tilled, plstic mulch, but ws much more difficult in the untilled ground. Removing the plstic t the end of the seson (s required for orgnic production) did involve cution for both the tretment nd the in order to ensure tht none ws left buried in the soil. Lying the lndscpe fbric ws quick, in comprison. Sod stples pressed esily through the fbric nd held securely in the firm ground. Plnting into the lndscpe fbric ws the most difficult nd time consuming of ny of the tretments. A shrp-edged trowel ws used to cut slit in the fbric nd to crete smll plnting hole. Becuse the fbric did not puncture or ter esily, it ws difficult to mneuver the plnt into the untilled ground through the inflexible hole. It is common for fmers to use blow torch to burn holes into lndscpe fbric for plnting. Tht method does crete lrger holes nd would hve mke this plnting process esier. Removing the fbric t the end of the seson ws more difficult thn expected, s the sod stples were firmly embedded in the soil. A nrrow shovel ws used to plnt tomtoes into the untilled ground before the mrsh hy tretment ws pplied. This plnting process ws by fr the esiest becuse there ws no mulch mteril in the wy. At the end of the seson, the drip line ws esily removed nd the mrsh hy ws left in plce to decompose. fbric tretment hy plstic 5

6 PLASTIC, FABRIC, AND MARSH HAY MULCH WITH NO-TILL ORGANIC TOMATOES Aisles were weeded with wheel hoe fitted with wide stirrup blde. The durbility of the lndscpe fbric llowed the blde to cut right up ginst it without cusing dmge nd mde weeding esy. Greter cution ws needed ginst the plstic so s not to sng nd ter it. As result, some hnd weeding ws required on the plstic edges. It ws lso difficult to void sngging nd moving the mrsh hy with the wheel hoe, so some hnd weeding ws needed in tht tretment s well. The plnting holes in both the nd no-till plstic did llow weeds through, which required hnd weeding. Plnting holes in the lndscpe fbric did not llow weeds to grow, becuse the thin plnting slit closed bck over the soil completely. Similrly, weeds did not grow round the tomtoes in the mrsh hy, becuse the mulch did not leve ny exposed soil round the plnt. Tble 1 shows the degree of difficulty of ech tsk s compred to the trctortilled nd plstic-mulched, s judged by the reserch crew. No-till plnting through sorghum sudngrss residue. Blue Moon Community Frm, 5/5/17 Weed Though numerous weeds hd sprouted throughout the tril re prior to lying mulch mterils, only the weeds in the were terminted (though tillge) prior to plnting. In ech of the no-till tretments, the mulch mterils were pplied directly over the living weeds. With the exception of weeds tht grew in the plstic mulch plnting holes, no weeds survived under ny of the properly lid mulch mterils. (Green plstic mulch must be stretched tight ginst the soil to prevent weeds.) 6 Mteril nd lbor costs Given tht there is no yield difference mong the no-till tretments or the, differences mong the input nd lbor costs re core to this comprison. Tble shows input nd lbor costs for 1-ft bed. Constnt fctors such s trellis mterils nd hrvest time re not included. Though the is clerly the most cost effective, benefits to the soil through reduced tillge nd the ddition of mrsh hy re not quntified. These benefits could trnslte into either decresed fertility costs or higher yields in the future. Tble 1. Difficulty of no-till tsks s compred to the tilled. No-till fbric No-till hy No-till plstic Lying mulch hrder hrder much hrder Plnting (by hnd) much hrder esier hrder Weeding esier sme sme Trellising sme sme sme Hrvesting sme sme sme Field clen-up esier much esier sme Discussion One of the most common criticisms of orgnic griculture is tht it relies too hevily on tillge. Tillge is known to hve negtive effect on soil structure nd leds to loss of orgnic mtter nd beneficil soil orgnisms. While orgnic vegetble frmers lredy grow cover crops, prctice crop rottion, nd incorporte other techniques to counterct the negtive effects of tillge, the results of this tril provide dditionl ides on how to include some no-till tomto prctices. Given tht yield ws the sme cross the tilled nd the no-till tretments, other cost nd mngement considertions cn come to the fore while trying to cpture the benefits of no-till: No-till plstic: The reltive lbor cost nd difficulty of lying plstic by hnd, s is currently required in no-till system, mkes this the lest prcticl option.

7 U N I V E R S I T Y O F W I S C O N S I N - E X T E N S I O N No-till lndscpe fbric: The lbor cost of this tretment ws higher in prt becuse of the time consumed creting nd plnting into the fbric holes. This time could be reduced by lying two lengths of fbric side by side with slight overlp, leving bed-length sem down the middle. Prting nd plnting into the sem would hve been quicker nd esier thn the hole method we used, thus reducing the cost. In this system, the untilled ground ws benefit to lying the fbric becuse the stples held more firmly then they do in tilled soil. Weed under the fbric ws excellent, even though weeds were not killed before lying the mteril. As more frms experiment with lndscpe fbric for weed, doing so in no-till system is well worth exploring. No-till mrsh hy: Though the lbor time in this system is significntly less thn the other two no-till systems, the mteril costs re higher. Tht dditionl cost my be offset by improved soil structure nd incresed soil orgnic mtter in the long-term, but it ws not possible to quntify those benefits during the term of this tril. Also, though overll yield ws the sme in the end, the hrvest in this system ws delyed. This method might be vluble in conjunction with one of the other systems s wy to extend the tomto hrvest seson. The spring of 17 ws wet. When it cme time to plnt this tril, it ws difficult to find dry spell long enough for tillge. As result, two of the frms were tilled when soil conditions were wetter thn they should hve been. In the no-till plots, however, plnting ws unffected by the wet conditions. In yer when plnting my be delyed by wet soils, the no-till lndscpe fbric nd no-till mrsh hy systems become even more ttrctive s options to keep plnting on schedule nd void soil dmge cused by tilling wet soils. Recommendtions for frmers Given tht yield ws the sme between the tilled nd no-till plots, it is worth experimenting with no-till orgnic tomtoes s wy to reduce tillge on orgnic frms. When wet soils prevent or dely tillge, the no-till lndscpe fbric nd no-till mrsh hy systems cn keep tomto plnting on schedule, Tble. Mteril nd lbor costs per 1-ft bed of tomtoes (excluding constnts). Control plstic 1 No-till fbric mrsh hy No-till No-till plstic 1 Mulch mterils $.1 $.77 $5.5 $.1 Lbor time 8 min 7 min 89 min 7 min Wge $1/hr $1/hr $1/hr $1/hr Lbor cost $1. $57.8 $8.16 $6.17 Totl mterils & lbor $.8 $6.6 $7.66 $ Green plstic mulch: Nolt s Midwest Produce Supplies, 18 prices, -ft x -ft roll is $1.5 plus $. shipping from Iow to Mdison, WI. Product is not reusble nd must be removed from the field. Blck lndscpe fbric: Nolt s Midwest Produce Supplies, 18 prices, -ft x -ft roll is $56., 1 6-in stples re $7.5, plus $5. shipping from Iow to Mdison, WI. Used stples per 1-ft bed. Totl cost spred over the expected minimum life of the product, 1 yers. Mrsh hy mulch: Locl supplier, $.5 per ble, 6 bles to cover ft x 1 ft. Product is not reusble nd is left on the field to decompose. void soil dmge, nd result in yields equl to the typicl tilled- nd plsticmulched system. Coopertor Kristen Kordet of Blue Moon Community Frm is considering the benefits of this pproch for her hevy cly soils. Ares where cover crops hve been winter-killed re gret for trying out these systems. Tomtoes cn be plnted directly into, nd mulch lid directly over, the cover crop residue with no weeding or tilling required. Weeds tht sprout through the residue before tomto plnting will die under the mulch mterils. Using lndscpe fbric with single row crop like tomtoes cn be simplified by punch plnting into cover crop residue nd then lying sheet of fbric on either side of the plnts. Then trellis posts cn be esily plced in the sme sem, with no dmge to the fbric. This method is used by frmer coopertor John Binkley t Equinox Community Frm nd is fster nd more protective of the mulch mteril thn creting holes in the fbric nd then plnting into those s we did in this tril. Tomto hrvest in the no-till mrsh hy system ws equl to the other systems, but peked lter. It could be vluble to plnt some tomtoes with mrsh hy even if the bulk of the plnting uses nother mulch, thus extending the hrvest seson without using succession plnting or multiple vrieties. Coopertor Mike Noltnerwyss of Crossrods Community Frm is considering using mrsh hy mulch longside his usul tilled, plstic-mulched system s seson extension technique. Though not prt of this tril, circumstnces llowed the tem to informlly compre the tller, hevier t-posts to shorter nd lighter u-posts in the tomto trellis. The u-posts were much fster nd esier to instll, less expensive, nd just s effective for these determinte rom tomtoes. 7

8 P L A S T I C, FA B R I C, A N D M A R S H H AY M U L C H W I T H N O - T I L L O R G A N I C T O M AT O E S References Btes, Dougls, Mrtin Mechler, Ben Bolker, nd Steve Wlker. 15. Fitting liner mixed-effects models using lme. Journl of Sttisticl Softwre 67(1): 1-8. doi:1.1867/jss.v67.i1. Lenth, Russell V. 16. Lest-squres s: The R pckge lss. Journl of Sttisticl Softwre 69(1): 1-. doi:1.1867/jss.v69.i1. Tomto beds nd nnul rye/dutch white clover isles fter mulch removl (left to right): Control, no-till plstic, no-till lndscpe fbric, no-till mrsh hy (mrsh hy still in plce). Crossrods Community Frm, 9/8/17 This mteril is bsed upon work tht is supported by the Ntionl Institute of Food nd Agriculture, U.S. Deprtment of Agriculture, through the North Centrl Region SARE progrm. The USDA is n equl opportunity employer nd service provider. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendtions expressed in this publiction re those of the uthor nd do not necessrily reflect the view of the U.S. Deprtment of Agriculture. Copyright 18 by the Bord of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System doing business s the division of Coopertive Extension of the University of Wisconsin-Extension. All rights reserved. Authors: Clire Strder is n orgnic vegetble eductor t UW-Extension Dne County. Julie Dwson is n ssistnt professor of horticulture t UW Mdison nd n urbn nd regionl food systems specilist t UW-Extension. Coopertive Extension publictions re subject to peer review. Frmer coopertors: Kristen Kordet, Blue Moon Community Frm, Stoughton, WI ( Mike Noltnerwyss, Crossrods Community Frm, Cross Plins, WI ( John Binkley, Equinox Community Frm, Wunkee, WI ( Photos: Courtesy of Clire Strder. University of Wisconsin-Extension, Coopertive Extension, in coopertion with the U.S. Deprtment of Agriculture nd Wisconsin counties, publishes this informtion to further the purpose of the My 8 nd June, 191, Acts of Congress. An EEO/AA employer, University of Wisconsin-Extension provides equl opportunities in employment nd progrmming, including Title VI, Title IX, nd the Americns with Disbilities Act (ADA) requirements. If you hve disbility nd require this informtion in n lterntive formt (Brille, lrge print, udiotpe, etc.), plese contct oedi@uwex.uwc.edu. For communictive ccommodtions in lnguges other thn English, plese contct lngugeccess@ces.uwex.edu. If you would like to submit copyright request, plese contct Coopertive Extension Publishing t N. Lke St., Rm. 7, Mdison, WI 576; pubs@uwex.edu; or (68) 6-77 (711 for Rely). This publiction is vilble from your county UW-Extension office (counties.uwex.edu) or from Coopertive Extension Publishing. To order, cll toll-free or visit our website t lerningstore.uwex.edu. Plstic, Fbric, nd Mrsh Hy Mulch with No-Till Orgnic Tomtoes (A16-) I-1-18