We have quite a bit of plastic here at our Ramona location. It's a key tool for weed management, and I'll dive into all the details about its uses and why we went with it.

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O:17 Intro
1:15 Plastic in the Garden

Unfortunately, plastic is everywhere and has become deeply embedded into our lives, including in agriculture. We take a lot of steps to minimize our plastic waste and reduce our carbon footprint. We try to prioritize reducing our use, reusing what we have, and recycling as the last step. As part of that, we also purchase highquality products that aren't going to end up in the landfill after a growing season.

With that said, we are using plastic at our Ramona location, and you'll often see rows of crops with plastic at the base. Why is this so common, and could it make sense for you to use it?

The primary function is weed management. Weeds are unable to penetrate the plastic. The seeds that do germinate (because it creates a warm, moist environment) aren't able to get any light and die out. Because we run our irrigation under the plastic layer, evaporation is minimal. That means the soil is staying wet. On top of that, the black attracts heat. It's the perfect situation for germination. Most weeds, though, need light to grow, and we deprive them of that.

Because the plastic heats up the soil, it also extends your growing season a little bit. We were able to transplant a little earlier than normal. That's a great benefit for people in colder growing zones so you can make the most of the warmer months.

But does it get too hot? Nope! Because we have regular irrigation and the plastic isn't too thick, temperatures won't get out of control.

This land was neglected for so long, and the weeds simply took over. We have several types, and four of them are especially tough to beat. They'll end up choking out our plants so we have to bring in the big guns (but never spraying weed killers).

If you have a manageable space, you can weed regularly and eventually come out on top. I recommend doing something like cardboard (like lasagna mulching) and mulch to suppress weeds. It won't entirely do the trick, but it's a great start and will make things easier down the road. Heck, you can even use some newspaper like my grandmother used to!

Because this is during the spring which is one of our busiest times of year, our time is limited so we are unable to weed all of this by hand. Until we are able to get dozens of truckloads of mulch here, the plastic is our best bet to help manage weeds and ensure good crop production.

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