Magic blanket

Magic blanket

Published in "Flora-Price" magazine, July 2004, Saint Petersburg

Mulching is a well-known agricultural technique that has a long history of application in agriculture. Nowadays, plastic films are used as mulching material. With their help, they suppress the growth of weeds, prevent soil crust formation (the soil under the film does not need to be loosened!), protect the root system from frost and frost in snowless winters, and improve the thermal regime and biological activity of the soil. The material that provides the best effect in mulching is a black film, and one that is entirely impermeable to light; otherwise, weeds' growth will not stop. Also, the film must be of high quality, durable, not to be destroyed in one season, and thus not to litter the environment. Now many people use this excellent technique - mulching - on their dacha plots.

Mulching with the black film is widely used for garden strawberries. Strawberry under mulching film gives an increase in yield (on average by 20-30%) due to better development of the root system, more branching of it, and an increase in the volume of the ground part of the plant. In the first experience of mulching, conducted in 1954 in the USA, it was found that strawberry berries are less affected by gray rot by 75-85%. Garden strawberries are also mulched with organic materials (such as straw), but they are less effective against weed growth, rot  and in rainy summers, the berries are wet and more susceptible to disease.  Thanks to mulch film berries are always clean, not in contact with wet soil, and easy to pick. The absence of gray rot allows you to do without chemical means of protection. Irrigation water consumption is reduced by 1.5-2 times, which is especially important in dry summers.

For garden strawberries, frosts and snowless winters are especially dangerous because their root system is not frost-resistant and is not deep - at a depth of about 3 cm. You can also protect the roots from freezing by mulching. Garden beds covered with foil, freeze less because film mulch is a damp-proof material that traps moisture vapor from deeper, warmer soil layers. At subzero temperatures, the moisture condenses on the inner surface of the film, forming a layer of loose frost, which is a kind of "artificial snowdrift" layer. Thermal protection increases by 5-10% in comparison with open soil.

Mulching with black film of planting strips in plantations apple trees, cherry trees, plums and other fruit trees has found quite wide application in Japan, Australia, England, France, and many other countries. Due to this, trees' roots stay warm, moist, rich in microflora and loose soil. This stimulates accelerated development of young plants, increased branching, and early fruiting. Depending on what type of soil the plant is planted in, the foil can be laid so that it catches and retains almost all precipitation (make a gentle slope towards the trunk of the tree). In case of close groundwater, in lowlands, in overwatered soils, on the contrary, it is recommended to plant the plant on a slight elevation, then it will "dump" unnecessary moisture from itself.

By mulching the soil, it's much easier to take care of such a labor-intensive crop as gooseberry. In areas of Western Siberia with this technique was able to achieve almost complete suppression of weeds and & nbsp;increase yields from 6 to 25% !!! In the same way mulch all favorite fruit shrubs – black and red currants.

Black film is successfully used for propagation of black, red currants and ornamental shrubs with single-tree cuttings. Cuttings are planted by piercing the film, resulting in a higher temperature and soil moisture in the rooting zone, while the upper part of the cuttings is at a lower temperature. In this case, the process of root formation goes in parallel with bud blossoming. In the open ground, the formation of roots lags behind bud blossoming, so a large part of cuttings dries up.  When mulching, the survival rate of cuttings increases by 40%.

In addition, soil mulching is widely used in the cultivation of tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, peppers, and other root crops in both open and protected ground.

There is a very widespread use in the world ofт mulching potatoes. Potatoes are grown on ridges and ridges. The tubers are not planted in the soil, but are spread out on the surface.      


This method was first used at the Menkov experimental station of the Agrophysical Institute (Leningrad). New tubers are also formed on the surface, and it is only necessary to remove the film to harvest them. Potatoes under the film are grown without hilling because the tubers appearing on the soil surface are protected from the action of light. The film prevents the germination of weeds and retains moisture. This is especially important if there is a lack of organic matter. The ground part of the plants germinates outwards through holes made in the black film when planting. This method of growing potatoes is used in Italy, the USA, and England.

Mulching is a simple technique with which you save your time and effort, and the harvest is less and increased. We would be happy if, after reading this article, you decide to use this excellent technique in your garden. In the next issue, we will tell you what films for mulching are available.

N. Alexeeva, NPF "Shar"