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Re: windbreak plants for plasticulture vegetable



Dust is an issue on strawberry plants because dusty plants tend to 
be more susceptible to 2-spot spider mite, a key pest in California. 
Maybe dust stresses plants by clogging stomates, or limiting 
photosynthesis. So do not write it off.

Matt Werner

Carol A. Miles wrote:
> 
> Hi Suzanne:
> 
> Soil moves by wind in 3 ways, suspension, creep, and saltation.  Suspension
> is commonly known as dust (particle size less than 0.1 mm diameter).  This
> is not likely to be an issue for prevention - it does not cause crop
> damage.  Larger particles (0.5-2 mm diameter) move in a process called
> creep - they are rolled along the ground surface.  Again these particles
> are generally not causing crop damage.  The real action you want to prevent
> is saltation.  Particles of intermediate size (0.05-0.5 mm) literally
> bounce along the surface, causing abrasion ("sandblasting") as they
> encounter plant tissue.
> 
> In general, the distance a particle will move is 10 times the height of
> it's bounce (Hudson, 1971, Soil Coservation, pp 252-259).  The maximum
> height a particle will jump appears to be 1 foot (Davies and Harrod, 1970,
> No. 88 Great Britain NAAS Quarterly Review). So, to prevent soil damage due
> to particles moving through saltation, it would appear that windbreaks need
> to be at least every 10 feet.
> 
> However, if you have the sweeping clouds of soil which I have seen in many
> open fields, the maximum height a soil particle moves is certainly greater
> than 1 foot.  In New York, I worked with the onion growers to try and solve
> their problem of soil wind erosion damage.  The system we developed there
> was a soil cover which did not have to be tall, but was dense at the soil
> surface.  This prevented the soil from being susceptible to movement by
> wind.  A fall planted cereal, rye, barley or oats, can winter kill, or be
> mowed or sprayed in the spring, and the residue left in place.  Onions were
> then planted in the spring, and at the same time a cereal grain was
> broadcast throughout the onion field.  The broadcast intercrop acted as a
> "nurse crop" - protected the onions from wind, and actually seemed to
> prevent the erosion from occurring.  However, I did not measure wind
> erosion, I measured onion production.  And onion production was generally
> good in this system.  The winter cover crop and spring intercrop system
> seemed to give enough soil cover to prevent crop damage.  Last time I
> heard, more than 90% of the NY onion growers had adopted the system.  If
> this sounds like a system which may work for you, you may want to check
> with Roy Ellerbrock or Ted Boswell at Cornell to see what system the
> growers are using now and how easy it is to manage.
> 
> The cold winds may be adequately moderated by a cereal windbreak which
> creates a microclimate near the soil surface.  I am sure there are others
> on the list or elsewhere who have much more information on this.  I can
> certainly dig through my files if you need more.
> 
> >I am an extension agent with the University of Florida.  Several of the
> >commercial vegetable farmers I work with are seeking recommendations for
> >plants to use as windbreaks in their plasticulture system.  The main
> >crops are strawberries followed by eggplant/pepper/tomato or a cucurbit.
> >
> >Does anyone have information/experience with windbreaks that would fit
> >into our system here?  Protection needed Oct through May.  Must be
> >frost-tolerant, but temps will also be up to 90 F.  Irrigation is
> >provided to crop with drip.  Frost
> >protection provided overhead with rainbirds.  Growers seek protection
> >from cold winter winds and blowing sands that damage plants & fruit.
> >
> >To date, the best recommendations I have are sugarcane and winter rye.
> >
> >I also want to learn how to determine the necessary spacing for the
> >windbreak rows.  Space is expensive and the crop is low.  I shtere a
> >formula for calculating the distance that a windbreak will protect if you
> >know its height?
> >
> >Thanks for your help!
> >Suzanne Cady
> >Extension Agent - Vegetables
> >University of Florida
> 
>     Carol A. Miles, Ph.D.
>     Washington State University
>     Extension Agricultural Systems
>     360 NW North Street
>     Chehalis, WA   98532
>     PHONE 360-740-1295   FAX 360-740-2792
>     milesc@wsu.edu

-- 
Matthew Werner
CASFS-University of California
1156 High Street
Santa Cruz, CA
408/459-4661
408/459-2799 fax
werner@zzyx.ucsc.edu



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