■5- 



Suggested arrangements for spaced rows; 



6" 12" 12" 6" 

 0X0 



12" 



0. 



12' 



\ 



aught er 

 plants 



4 



3 ft. 



4 ft. 



In preparing to use a plastic mulch remanber that under Massachusetts con- 

 ditions, side dressing with fertilizer through the mulch is not practical if not I 

 actually impossible. Therefore, the soil fertility must be built up before the 

 plants are set. 



Planting through the mulch is a very difficult procedure. Where the hill 

 system is used this problem is solved by setting the plants first, then immediate- 

 ly following the first cultivation and weeding, the plastic is laid over the row, 

 slits are cut over the plants and the plants pulled through. To keep the plastic 

 in place it will be necessary to weight down the edges with soil or stones. If a 

 spaced row system is used the same procedure is followed except that later the 

 daughter plants must be set. It is practically impossible to set runners through 

 slits in the plastic, if they are allowed to develop much of a root system. There- 

 fore, it is important that the runner plants be put in place and held in place in 

 slits in the plastic before roots have formed or at least when they are very short. 

 This necessitates going over the bed to set runner plants more frequently than 

 would be necessary if plastic mulch were not used. 



Plastic mulch usually reduces greatly the weed problem but may not eliminate 

 it entirely. Clear plastic allows the weeds to get sunlight and may act like a 

 greenhouse. Black plastic cuts off sunlight and usually shades out many weeds. 

 Some very persistent weeds such as quack grass will find the holes in the plastic 

 and grow right thru them. 



The reduction in number of decayed berries during a wet season is one of the 

 big advantages of plastic mulch. It keeps the berries out of contact with the soil 

 which is so full of rot organisms. It also dries off much faster than soil and 

 allows the berries to dry faster. Dry berries in contact with dry mulch are much 

 less subject to rot than wet berries in contact with soil. 



Plastic mulch has several advantages if it is used with a hill or spaced row 

 system. Since not all the problems connected with its use have been solved, it 

 would be well to make some small scale tests before investing too much in what to 

 the grower will probably be an entirely new system of growing strawberries. 



