I just found out something very interesting.
Normally (or this year at least) I put a black weed mat down to raise the soil temp around each plant. This is it's only purpose, as far as I'm concerned. Well, I just went out and did some soil temp measurements.
Outside the hoophouse, baseline measurement: 70 degrees.
Inside the HH, under the weed mat: 77 degrees.
Inside the HH, not under the weed mat: 79 degrees!
I then went to another HH and repeated the measurements. They came out as 78 and 80 degrees, respectively. That is, under the weed mat is cooler by two degrees! Not what I expected.
It may not seem like much, but us giant pumpkin growers really want any extra degrees we can get. I think I'll remove the weed mats.
1 comment:
Hey Cliff,
If your looking to raise the soil temperature, try using clear plastic. I'm not sure how it will work under the hoophouse but farmers use it to speed up sweet corn. Of course, it doesn't stop weeds from growing.
If your hoop houses are still up, it would be an easy experiment to try - lay it down in the morning and measure later that day. If you try it, let me know if it works.
later,
Bruce Savage
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