Amanda Skidmore
,
Entomology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
Ric Bessin
,
Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
The idea of season extension is a centuries old concept that has been developed and advanced over time. The oldest reports of season extension come from the first century the Romans, who used ‘transparent stone’ to extend the growing season for cucumbers (Wells and Loy, 1993; Jenson and Malter, 1995). Through out the following centuries many cultures have records of the development of season extension methods, some of which are still in use today, one of these methods was the use of “row-covers”. There are many types of “row-covers” that are used for agricultural purposes. For our studies we used a type of “floating” row-cover system or ‘low tunnel’ system (hereafter referred to as just ‘row-cover’). This system involves the use of spunbonded polyethylene, plastic, or polypropylene sheets that are secured on the edge and stretched over the crop (Perring et al, 1989; Wells and Loy, 1993; Jenson and Malter, 1995). The system we will used involved row-cover sheets supported by metal hoops. The hoops allow the material, which is lightweight and semipermeable to ‘float’ above the plants. This creates a microclimate that has been shown to greatly increase plant quality, yield, and development (Loy and Wells, 1975; Soltani et al, 1995; Arancibia and Motsenbocker, 2008; Nair and Ngouajio, 2010). Originally row-covers were intended to be used for frost protection, but many benefits to using row-cover have been reported in the literature. Some additional benefits of using row-cover include: season extension, microclimate control, pest barrier, decreased in plant pathogens, and increased plant yield (Jenson and Malter, 1995; Arancibia and Motsenbocker, 2008; Nair and Ngouajio, 2010). Our study focused on the use of row-cover in cucurbit production in central Kentucky. Two tillage systems were used in this study: conventional tillage with black plastic raised beds and traditional strip tillage. The project was conducted in both conventional and organic growing systems. Natural enemy and pest surveys were conducted weekly, along with bi-weekly pitfall trap samples. Yield data was also collected and analyzed. Our results show significant differences in natural enemy and pest populations, as well as higher yields in row-cover treatments.
Arancibia, R.A., C.E. Motsenbocker.2008. Differential watermelon fruit size distribution in response to plastic mulch and spunbonded polyester rowcover. HortTechnology 18:1: 45-52
Jensen, M.H., A.J. Malter. 1995. Protected Agriculture: A Global Review. World Bank Technical Paper: number 235. Washington, D.C.
Loy, J.B., O.S. Wells. 1975. Response of hybrid muskmelons to polyethylene row covers and black polyethylene mulch. Scientia Horticulturae 3: pp. 223-23
Nair, A., M. Ngouajio. 2010.Integrating rowcovers and soil amendments for organic cucumber production: implications on crop growth, yield, and microclimate. HortScience 45:4: 1-9
Perring, T.M., R.N. Royalty, C.A. Farrar. 1989. Floating row covers for the exclusion of virus vectors and the effect on disease incidence and yield in cantaloupe. Journal of Economic Entomology 82:6: pp. 1709-1715
Soltani, N., J.L. Anderson, A.R. Hamson. 1995.Growth analysis of watermelon plants grown with mulches and rowcovers. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science 120:6: 1001-1009
Wells, O.S., J.B. Loy. 1993. Production and Marketing Report: Rowcovers and high tunnels enhance crop production in the northeastern United States. HortTechnology 3:1: pp. 92-95
