Growing vegetables with cover crop mulch

By Alison Grantham
At Meadow View Farm, in Kutztown, PA James Weaver
and son Harold Weaver dread cleanin u! the more than
"# linear miles o$ %lac& !lastic they use every year' When
they do $inish cleanin u! all o$ the !lastic under their
!e!!ers, tomatoes, e!lants, and cucur%its, they then $ace
the headache o$ how to dis!ose o$ the !lastic' (e!endin
on your location, and whether you)re recyclin, land*
$illin, or %urnin, %lac& !lastic dis!osal is an e+!ensive challene' Furthermore, %y
the time it)s all cleaned u!, Harold notes, it)s always too late to et a cover cro! in'
,hese $rustrations motivated the Weavers and other veeta%le $armers and
researchers at -odale .nstitute to e+!eriment with rolled and crim!ed cover cro!
mulches to reduce their reliance on %lac& !lastic'
Organic Cover Crop Mulches. For more than a decade, researchers at -odale
.nstitute /-.0 have %een wor&in with others at Penn 1tate and the 21(A)s
1ustaina%le Ariculture 1ystems 3a% in Beltsville, M(, to develo! a system $or
!roducin corn and soy%ean rain cro!s oranically without s!rin tillae'
-esearchers $irst honed in on a $ew winter annual cover cro!s, such as cereal rye
and hairy vetch, that can %e &illed when they %loom in the s!rin' However, they
4uic&ly %ecame $rustrated %y how 4uic&ly weeds %ro&e throuh the mowed or
cho!!ed residue, so they then wor&ed to develo! the roller*crim!er' ,he roller*
crim!er not only terminates the cover cro!s %y $lattenin and crushin, %ut also
leaves them in an intact matt that)s %etter a%le to su!!ress weeds throuhout the
season'
Cover Crop Mulches for Vegetable Production. John ,easdale and Are$ A%dul*
Ba&i, 21(A researchers in Beltsville, Maryland, !ioneered wor& to develo! a cover
cro! mulch system $or tomatoes and other veeta%les usin $lail*mowed cover
cro!s' ,hey $ound mowed cover cro! mulches /hairy vetch, or com%inations o$
covers0 !rovided su$$icient nitroen, su!!ressed diseases, and enerally su!!orted
healthier, loner*lived !lants' Weeds, however, remained a challene' While the
mowed cover cro! mulch did !rovide ood early weed su!!ression, and they were
a%le to reatly reduce the amount o$ her%icide they used, they $ound the mowed
mulch system still o$ten re4uired her%icides to achieve ade4uate weed control later
in the season' ,heir wor&, $indins, and recommendations are nicely summarized in
their Farmers) Bulletin' 5ther researchers have also investiated no*till tomato
!roduction systems that terminate cover cro!s %y undercuttin'
An Organic Cover Crop Mulch System for Vegetables. .n "##6, -. researchers
attem!ted to com%ine the &nowlede ained $rom the rolled7crim!ed system $or
rain cro!s with &nowlede $rom the A-1 veeta%le research to develo! an oranic
cover cro! mulch system $or veeta%les' -esearchers selected 8 cover cro! o!tions9
cereal rye $or its su!erior weed su!!ression ca!acity, hairy vetch $or its su!erior
nitroen $i+in ca!acity, and a mi+ture o$ %oth vetch and rye to try to create a
mulch that !rovided %oth su$$icient nitroen and weed su!!ression' 5!tin $or the
heavier seedin rates used in oranic no*till rain !roduction, and the earlier
!lantin dates /: wee&s %e$ore $irst $rost0 advised $or cover cro!s used $or
veeta%le mulches, researchers ho!ed to row thic&, dense cover cro! stands that
!revented summer annual weed ermination in the s!rin and !rovided su$$icient
soil cover to continue su!!ressin them durin the summer' ,o ma+imize
!ersistence o$ the cover cro! mulch, -. researchers also o!ted to com!are rollin
and crim!in the cover cro!s to the mowin method used %y the 21(A researchers'
reatments in the rial. As the com%inations o$ cover cro!s, !lantin dates, cover
cro! termination methods, and cro!s are !ractically limitless, researchers elected to
do a systems*ty!e e+!eriment to com!are a cou!le o$ !ractical systems veeta%le
$armers could use to !roduce tomatoes9
; cereal rye mulch terminated %y rollin7crim!in or %y $lail mowin,
; hairy vetch mulch terminated %y rollin7crim!in or %y $lail mowin,
; rye*vetch mi+ mulch terminated %y rollin7crim!in or %y $lail mowin, and
; reular %lac& !lastic mulch over !lowed*in rye, vetch, or rye*vetch'
System performance
-esearchers measured how well each system did in terms o$ $ertility, weed
su!!ression, and yield' ,he $irst year o$ research showed that the mowed vetch*
and*rye mi+ mulch !roduced the hihest yields, !rovided the most weed
su!!ression, and !rovided <ust the riht amount o$ nitroen $or tomato !roduction'
-esearchers are now in the midst o$ a second year o$ re!eated $ield trials to e+!and
the dataset and test the validity o$ the $indins in a di$$erent rowin season'
!itrogen "ertility
Knowin how much nitroen a cover cro! will !rovide to the su%se4uent cro!
de!ends not only on the total amount o$ nitroen in the cover cro!, %ut also on ratio
o$ car%on to nitroen /=9>0 in the cover cro!' ,he lower the cover cro!)s =9> ratio,
the more nitroen availa%le to the cro!' Plowin the cover cro! in will also increase
the availa%ility o$ its nitroen, while leavin the cover cro! residue on the sur$ace
as mulch reduces the amount o$ cover cro! nitroen availa%le to the su%se4uent
cro!'
Nitrogen from hairy vetch ? Hairy vetch is a reat source o$ nitroen' As a
nitroen*$i+in leume, hairy vetch has a hiher density o$ nitroen in its tissue
/a%out @'AB nitroen in this study0 than other cover cro!s' Hairy vetch can also
!roduce a tremendous amount o$ cover, usually %etween @### and :### l%s7A %y
early June' .n "#C#, hairy vetch rew rather !oorly ? only 8###*@@## l%s7A, %ut still
contained a%out CA#*"## l%s o$ nitroen' ,he nitroen in cover cro!s with =9>
ratios o$ "#9C or less is hihly availa%le ? micro%es will ma&e A#B or more o$ the
nitroen availa%le to the cro! over a summer rowin season' For vetch, with a
very low =9> ratio o$ only 69C or C#9C, a%out DA l%s o$ nitroen was !ro%a%ly
availa%le to the su%se4uent tomatoes /%oth in vetch mulch and in !lastic mulch0,
well more than the tomatoes) needs o$ a%out A# l%7A nitroen'
3astly, hairy vetch rowth and nitroen content increase ra!idly in the late s!rin'
.n "#C#, hairy vetch increased in size @#*8##B in the C8 days %etween May "# and
June ", a nitroen increase o$ a%out A# l%s7A' ,his increase in total nitroen /"##
l%s vs' C@# l%s0 more than made u! $or the decreased availa%ility /88*@#B vs' A#B
or DA*:# l%s availa%le vs' D# l%s availa%le0 caused %y leavin the vetch on the
sur$ace as mulch'
Nitrogen from cereal rye ? =ereal rye is only a little over CB nitroen and has a
hih =9> ratio o$ @#9C or @A9C, ma&in it a relatively !oor source o$ nitroen
$ertility' However, it is a !roli$ic !roducer o$ %iomass, !rovidin 6,###*CC,### l%s
o$ mulch !er acre' 1o, even thouh the nitroen in cereal rye is not very
concentrated, rye mulch still contains C##*C"A l%s o$ nitroen !er acre' A%out a
4uarter o$ that nitroen, or "#*8# l%s !er acre was !ro%a%ly availa%le to the
su%se4uent tomatoes, meetin a%out hal$ o$ their nitroen needs' =ereal rye is
mature %y mid*May, so no additional %iomass or nitroen is ained %y waitin until
June to roll it'
Nitrogen from the vetch/rye mixture ? ,he di$$erence %etween the mi+ture in mid*
May and the mi+ture in mid*June was tremendous' .n mid*May, the mi+ture was
still mostly rye ? only DB vetch and 68B rye' However, %y mid*May the vetch had
larely overta&en the rye, and the mi+ture was a%out 8#B vetch and D#B rye' >ot
sur!risinly, the vetch and rye mi+ mulch had an intermediate =9> ratio o$ a%out
"89C' 5nly C78 to E o$ the nitroen in cover cro!s with slihtly hiher =9> ratios
/%etween "#9C and @#9C0 will %e availa%le to the season)s cro!sF as such, this rye*
vetch mi+ture li&ely yielded a%out A#*G#l%s o$ nitroen !er acre, !ro%a%ly a
su$$icient su!!ly $or tomatoes' However, since some early season nitroen
immo%ilization was !ossi%le, researchers a!!lied a 4uarter rate o$ Fertrell @*C*C
/a%out C# l%s >7A0 at !lantin to ward o$$ trans!lant shoc& and su!!ort healthy,
!roductive !lants'
Vetch Nitrogen less costly than Supplemental Fertilizer. Hven with the thin vetch
stands in %oth years, the vetch still !rovided a%out A#*C## l%s o$ availa%le nitroen'
1u!!lemental $ertilization re4uired in the rye mulches was : times more e+!ensive
than the cost o$ the vetch system'
#eed Supression
Achieving Sufficient Cover Crop Biomass (mulch !evels. ,he more the cover
cro!s rew, the more weed su!!ression they !rovided' Previous research has shown
that A### l%s o$ mulch !er acre is necessary $or ade4uate weed su!!ression' Vetch
rew to !rovide only a%out @@## l%s o$ dry cover cro! mulch !er acre, insu$$icient
mulch $or ade4uate weed su!!ression' ,he rye cover cro! and the rye7vetch cover
cro! mi+ture %oth rew tremendously ? each !rovidin over 6,### l%s o$ dry cover
cro! mulch !er acre in "#C#'
"o#ing versus $olling. 1olid soil cover and uni$orm mulch distri%ution are also
im!ortant $actors in achievin ade4uate weed su!!ression' Flail mowin can %e an
e$$ective stratey $or im!rovin mulch uni$ormity and soil cover' However, the
maceration o$ cover cro! tissue caused %y mowin can accelerate mulch
decom!osition relative to rolled cover cro! mulches, !otentially leavin cro!s in
mowed mulch systems vulnera%le to late season weed !ressure' .n the vetch alone
treatment, $lail mowin im!roved the uni$ormity o$ the mulch distri%ution, initially
im!rovin weed su!!ression' However, %y : wee&s a$ter tomato trans!lantin, it
a!!eared that the mowed mulch had decom!osed more 4uic&ly than its rolled
counter!art, and %oth mowed and rolled treatments were similarly weedy' ,hat said,
early weed su!!ression is more im!ortant than late weed su!!ression $or cro!
!roductivity, and the reater early weed su!!ression and !ossi%ly hiher nitroen
availa%ility due to reater mulch decom!osition in the mowed vetch mulch
su!!orted @@B hiher yields than the rolled vetch mulch' =onversely, in the
rye7vetch treatments, the mowed mulch su!!ressed more weeds than the rolled
mulch %oth @ wee&s and : wee&s a$ter !lantin, with less than hal$ as many weeds
in the mowed treatment as in the rolled treatment at %oth sam!lin dates'
$ye%Vetch versus $ye Alone. Mi+in vetch, a vine*y !lant, in with rye a!!eared to
&nit the mulch toether, !rovidin im!rovements in mulch uni$ormity and soil
cover similar to those !rovided %y mowin versus rollin' ,he mowed rye*vetch
was the least weedy /less than @## l%s o$ weeds !er acre0' Mowed rye mulch, rolled
rye*vetch, and rolled rye all su!!ressed weeds a%out as well as %lac& !lastic, with
a%out C### l%s o$ weeds !er acre in each o$ those mulches %y Auust, althouh the
aisle*ways %etween %lac& !lastic !lots re4uired weed whac&in, which wasn)t
necessary in the cover cro! mulches' .n com!arison, the mowed vetch and rolled
vetch mulches were %oth the weediest %y Auust with a%out 8### l%s o$ weeds !er
acre'
&iel's. 5verall yields were hihest in the mowed rye*vetch mulch /@@,### l%s o$
tomatoes7acre0, similar in the rolled rye*vetch and %lac& !lastic over !lowed rye*
vetch /@",### l%s o$ tomatoes7acre0' Iields were slihtly lower in the rye treatments
/rolled, mowed, and !low7%lac& !lastic0 and %lac& !lastic over !lowed vetch, all o$
which yielded %etween 8G,### and @C,### l%s o$ tomatoes !er acre' Iields in the
vetch mulch !lots were much lower /CG,### in the rolled mulch and "@,### in the
mowed mulch0, althouh the mowed vetch mulch yielded @AB hiher than the
rolled vetch mulch' ,he JBlac& Prince) variety yielded C"B more than JBellstar)
and CAB more than JGlacier)' As e+!ected, early yields were a%out "#B hiher in
the %lac& !lastic' However, %y the @th wee& o$ harvest, yields in the cover cro!
mulches were e4uivalent to or hiher than yields in the %lac& !lastic, and remained
hiher than yields in the %lac& !lastic $or the remainder o$ the season'
"armer feedbac$
Farmer !artners in the research all !lanted a mi+ture o$ rye*vetch' Hach $arm
includes G test stri!s9 8 stri!s o$ rye*vetch terminated %y rollin7crim!in and 8
stri!s o$ rye*vetch turned in either %y mold%oard !low, disc, or s!ader and manaed
as they would normallyK%lac& !lastic, her%icides, cultivation or some com%ination
thereo$' ,he $armer !artners are all rowin tomatoes and7or !um!&ins or winter
s4uash this year'
John Good, one o$ the $armers !artnerin on the research, was es!ecially !leased
with the !er$ormance o$ the rye vetch mulch so $ar, althouh he noted a $ew
challenes' ,he $irst was hand trans!lantin' He and his crew struled to hand
trans!lant Waltham %utternuts into the rye*vetch mulch on June C@, a%out C# days
a$ter rollin7crim!in the G) tall rye*vetch' Good e+!lained that to hand trans!lant
into the soil under the mulch, the soil needed to have some moistureKeither recent
rain or some dri! irriation' 5therwise it could %e li&e tryin to hac& into concrete
with a hand trowel' Good)s second concern was the varia%ility in the rye*vetch'
While one o$ his stri!s had %een dominated %y vetch, another was dominated %y
rye, and at @ wee&s a$ter trans!lantin, Good)s s4uash showed the di$$erence' ,he
%utternuts in the vetch dominated stri! were larer and reener than those in the rye
dominated stri!'
Harold Weaver, who $arms Meadow View Farm in Kutztown with his $ather James
Weaver, shared his early im!ressions o$ the rye*vetch mulch system' Havin
!lanted a lare @ acre $ield in the cover cro! mi+ture last $all, the Weavers initially
!lanned to roll and crim! <ust a small section o$ the $ield with a new raised %ed
roller*crim!er desined and %uilt %y .LJ Manu$acturin in Ga!, PA' However, as
the wet weather wore on this s!rin, the $ield did not dry out enouh $or Harold or
James to et into it until mid*May, when the rye*vetch was already more than G)
tall' -ather than try to mow and till in their e+tra*lare cover cro!, Harold and
James o!ted to roll and crim! most o$ the $ield with a C#) straiht roller and direct
seed !um!&ins into $lat round in late May' While they ot ood control o$ the rye
with that $irst !ass, the vetch continued to row' 1o, <ust !rior to !um!&in
emerence, Harold $ollowed u! with another !ass with their new 8*!art .LJ roller*
crim!er, which !rovided e+cellent control o$ the vetch' Harold noted that he $elt the
8*!art roller actually !rovided %etter control than the straiht roller %ecause the 8*
!art roller is %etter at coverin the divots and hummoc&s that characterize their hilly
$arm' 1o $ar, Harold and James are very ha!!y with the cover cro! mulch system,
which they)re usin to row late heirloom tomatoes /!lanted mid*June0 and $all
ca%%aes on raised %eds, alon with the !um!&ins on $lat round'
#hat we $now so far
1o $ar, the mowed rye*vetch mulch has emered as the %est !er$ormin system,
with the hihest yields, $ewest weeds, and %est match %etween nitroen !rovided
nitroen needed' ,he rolled rye*vetch was a close runner*u!, and the only other
cover cro! mulch to out*!er$orm %lac& !lastic' -olled or mowed rye is a nice
alternative to %lac& !lasticF however, the system does re4uire a%out M:##7acre o$
su!!lemental oranic $ertilizer' M:##7acre is li&ely a similar cost to the %lac& !lastic
system, as the costs $or %ed !re! and %lac& !lastic, la%or and $uel $or twice monthly
weed whac&in, and %lac& !lastic dis!osal, can 4uic&ly a!!roach the cost o$
$ertilizer $or tomatoes in rye mulch' ,he vetch mulch systems were !oor
!er$ormers, in terms o$ weeds and yields' However, in terms o$ nitroen $ertility,
!lowin in even a thin stand o$ vetch and usin %lac& !lastic su!!orts hih early
and overall tomato yields and su$$icient weed su!!ression' For rowers loo&in to
esca!e $rom %lac& !lastic, or even <ust decrease their use o$ the stu$$, cover cro!
mulches are a !romisin alternative'
For more details /and ra!hs0 on Iear " $indins, read Blac& !lastic alternatives9
Fertility, variety, seasonality'
Alison (rantham is working towards a dual PhD in Ecology and Biogeochemistry
in the Crop and Soil Sciences Department at Penn State. Her research is exploring
ecosystem efficiency differences between agricultural systems across a range from
fully integrated crop and liestock systems to disparate grain and liestock
production. Prior to returning to school! "lison sered the #odale $nstitute as
research intern! research and policy associate! research manager! and ultimately
the interim director of research. $n her spare time! "lison is an aid organic
community gardener.
)his material is *ase' upon #or+ supporte' *y Northeast SA$,- un'er Su*a#ar' !N, ./%012.
,as9 cover cro!s, $armin, oranic no*till, research, rodale institute, 1A-H, soil health, weed manaement