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garden:infrastructure:rowcover

Row cover material

Why I use

I hoped to help seeds germinate by using row cover to retain some heat provided by sunlight.

Also, I hoped to protect plants seeded in the soil from bugs (especially Mexican bean beetles and cucumber beetles) and in one case from a goose.

Floating row coverIn a few cases I thought I might limit access to slugs and snails.

I fashioned small hoops from a heavy wire to keep the cover off the plants.

Results

Plant-eating gooseRegarding plant predators, a row cover isn't very effective unless all the edges are flat to the ground. Bugs (and slugs) find the seedlings quickly. I may have provided a barrier for the goose until I removed the cover and exposed the tender green foliage.

I can't say I had much success getting seeds that require warmer soil temperature, such as small melons, to germinate. It worked better to plant in containers inside and transplant later.

It was clear that the row cover absorbed enough sunlight that plant growth was limited. So I removed the covers when the seedlings began to develop true leaves.

garden/infrastructure/rowcover.txt · Last modified: 2020/06/30 21:16 by davidbac