Re: [tomato] Was: Red Plastic Mulch; Now Hay Books
William McKay (Tomato@GlobalGarden.com)
Mon, 01 Nov 1999 20:01:52 PST
I am not clear regarding the technique. Did you put down thick blocks of
hay over everything (beds & walkways)? How did you get water to the plants?
My understanding is that you need at least 4-5 inches of mulch to keep the
disease organisms in the soil. Is this how thick the blocks were?
I am ready to try just about anything, including spraying (which I never
thought I would ever do).
BIll McKay>I did not use plastic mulch this year, but I tried Charles
Wilber's hay book
>mulch. He is the 83-year Alabaman who wrote the book, Growing Guinness
>World Record Tomatoes. I interviewed him for an article on his method that
>will appear in the Jan. 2000 issue of Old Farmer's Almanac's Gardener's
>Companion. I was impressed by some of his ways. The man doesn't have a
>great deal of education, and he doesn't know about soil biology. But, his
>experience and a keen sense of observation have taught him lessons
>scientists are only now understanding. He said that he lays his hay mulch
>out in books (the sections off the bales) and butts them together, forming
>a
>solid, thick mat. I had always used hay as mulch, but I fluffed it up like
>everyone else. The fluffy hay did a good job, but soil-borne disease still
>splashed up on to the tomato leaves.
>
>Last spring I used Wilber's method of books that abutted. The soil was
>cold, and we had a freeze after I planted. I wrapped the transplants with
>newspaper, and they came through OK. I had absolutely NO disease on any of
>my 8 heirloom varieties, despite close spacing and overcrowding due to
>rampant vine growth. When I pulled up my vines about 2 weeks ago, I found
>the hay half degraded, but still in a solid mat. The soil underneath was
>very black and teaming with earthworms. From my 8 plants, I harvested over
>500 pounds of fruit.
>Doreen Howard
>
>
>
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