According to Ron Goldy , senior extension educator at Michigan State University , plasticulture — the method acting of growing vegetables using raised , plastic - mulched beds with drip irrigation — can easily be adapted to small - scale growers . Upfront costs associated with plasticulture might have prevented small - exfoliation producers from adopting this develop method in years by , but today it ’s becoming a more affordable selection , even for the hobby granger with little land .
“ They will have all the benefit that follow with plasticulture — earliness , increase product , higher quality [ produce],weed control , wet retention , drip irrigation , et cetera , ” Goldy pronounce . “ The openhanded drawback used to be the cost and size of it of equipment . It took a somewhat sizeable tractor to address most early layer shapers , but smaller 1 can now be receive . ”
While commercial-grade use ofplastic mulchin combination with drip tape measure was first introduced in the sixties , Goldy says plasticulture is now becoming the banner for many harvest due to higher , earlier yield ; weed and wet control ; and reduced input forfertilizerand pesticide due to decrease Edwin Herbert Land use . He say vegetable broker also like it because it gives a higher-quality product with longer ledge life . ( Soil often carries diseases , and the plastic cut soil splash onto the product . ) Crops commonly grown in pliant includestrawberries , tomatoes , peppers , cucumbers , squashand many other , mostly above - ground , craw .
To get started , growers necessitate access to a properly sizedtractor(usually a four - rack drive for extra traction and weight ) , a layer maker that will be pulled behind the tractor and a drip - tape recording inserter . They also need plumbing system components , include filter and connection , from their water source to the drip magnetic tape . Goldy estimates a one - row bed shaper price between $ 3,000 to $ 5,000 new , and around $ 2,000 used . Drip - organisation costs vary depend on size of it and body of water reference . “ Plastic is around $ 180 and tape measure around $ 125 per acre , ” Goldy says . “ Other plumbery can be done for under $ 1,000 for a little - scale hustler . The charge card and tape is the only thing that demand to be supervene upon every year . ”
Plasticulture agriculture can be especially profitable for market nurseryman , who are often stretched for both time and money , Goldy order , because after the initial investiture , it ’s possible to grow the same amount of produce on half the solid ground due to high-pitched - density planting , increase efficiency in both time and materials . One of the master benefits of growing in credit card is that it broaden the growing time of year on both ends , intend agriculturalist can take their crops to market sooner and stretch yield later in the year .
“ Most market gardeners are grow for CSAs or Fannie Merritt Farmer ’ markets , and if the season can be extend , their income is increased , ” Goldy says . “ One of the drawback with a market place garden is that not all the crops postulate the same amount of fertilizer or body of water at the same meter . [ With plasticulture ] , it is potential to valve off the sub - lines so only sure rows with standardised requirement are irrigate or fertilized at the same time . ”
Since 2005 , plasticulture has become a more low-cost choice for more than 300 minuscule - scale growers in Oklahoma through the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture , Food and Forestry ’s Plasticulture Program , which helps limited - imagination farmers get their garden truck to consumers and increase the stage business of farmers already growing specialty crop in the body politic . ODAFF assists program participant in the instalment of up to 1 Akka of plasticulture . “ On an acre of Edwin Herbert Land , we expend about $ 500 on material , such as drip irrigation , charge card , close - off valves and a fertilizer injector , ” read Micah Anderson , who runs the plasticulture program at ODAFF . “ Then we drop about $ 600 for labor . The full cost is about $ 1,100 per acre to be ready for implant . ”
The curriculum helps establish beds with its plasticulture machine , eliminating the need for the husbandman to own a tractor and rowing - seam shaper , equipment that Goldy estimate can consort up to $ 30,000 new or $ 10,000 used . The machine raise the bed , lays the credit card , and puts down the drip bloodline all at once .
Starting out , the ODAFF plasticulture programme built 25 plasticulture garden a twelvemonth , but with extra funding from the USDA Specialty Crop Grant Program in 2009 , it ’s now able to set up more than 60 garden per year .
“ We finger this program has been great for lowly farmers in Oklahoma , ” Anderson says . “ It has created some new farmers and assist others obtain more production on a small-scale acreage . ”
For farmers who are n’t eligible for plasticulture programs or who think their land area is too small to justify the upfront costs of implementing charge card , Goldy recommends sharing equipment and supply purchases with local small - plate James Leonard Farmer .
