Biological Insect Controls
(Page 3 of 3)
Last year, aided in large part by our drip irrigation
system and black plastic mulch, my wife and I harvested
broccoli well into December and brussels sprouts in January
... and we live in New York State! In all, I would have to
rate the black-plastic-mulched/drip-irrigated garden I've
been experimenting with as an unqualified success. (I first
described it in "A Drip at a Time," MOTHER NO. 82, page
32.) It was a difficult growing year, with heavy rain all
spring and then weeks without a shower in the summer, but
the black plastic cover kept the soil from getting sodden
in excessively wet weather, while the drip system delivered
moisture to the plants very efficiently during the extended
dry spell.
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Our garden is (of necessity) located in an area that was
formerly a farmhouse garbage dump, and broken glass and
clamshells still surface in the growing patch with
dismaying regularity. Under these circumstances, I tried
out the sturdy black plastic Submatic tubing (available
from Submatic, P.O. Box 246, Lubbock, TX 79408) and found
it to be better than the more fragile, paper like"oozing
tape" from Irrigro (1555 Third Ave., Niagara Falls, NY
14304). The latter occasionally suffered cuts that required
repair. Under more ordinary conditions, though, I think
that both systems work well, with the Itrigro having a
marginal advantage for row crops, since it weeps water
along its entire length rather than from emitters placed at
two foot intervals.
At any rate, I'm now a thoroughgoing convert to drip
irrigation!
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