Plant Residues and Newspaper Mulch Effects on Weed Emergence And Collard Performance

Urban Farm DB summary

A field-trial study conducted in the United States, where small-scale urban agriculture has become more prevalent due to the availability of abandoned property and demand for locally grown produce. Weed suppression is described as a major concern for urban growers, with mulch valued as an inexpensive, readily available control method. Black plastic mulch, the industry standard, is impermeable and difficult to remove and dispose of; newspaper end-rolls (unprinted remains from newspaper printing) are proposed as an alternative that is permeable and biodegradable but have a high C:N ratio that can reduce soil fertility and crop growth. Because plant residue alone requires large quantities for adequate weed suppression, combining newspaper with plant residues is proposed as a way to achieve adequate suppression with less material and a lower C:N ratio. The study's objective was to compare two continuous sheet mulches — newspaper and black plastic — with and without an underlying particulate mulch of killed cover crop, in field trials conducted in 2011 and 2012 measuring soil moisture, soil temperature, weed growth, weed removal cost, and collard (Brassica oleracea) performance in a low-input production system. The abstract does not report specific results.