April 14, 2016

Good morning, I have been using fabric for a number of years now. I have used it in all of the different kinds of weather that can be found in West Texas. It continues to shine. Even during the cold, cloudy and wet winter of 2014-15 there was no adverse effects.

I have folks just baffled wondering how you could leave the fabric on and the plants still able to get enough light.

A friend loaned me his light meter a few years back because I was curious as to how accurate the fabric light rating was. Agribon comes in several thicknesses but I only use two. These are Agribon 19 and Agribon 70. These numbers designate the amount of light not penetrating the fabric.

When I used my friends light meter it was during the middle of winter. I picked a very sunny day. The reading in full sunlight was 10,000 lumins. I then crawled underneath a bed covered with Agribon 70. The meter reading was right at 3000 or roughly 70 percent less than full sun.

I had poked my head under the fabric before but I had never crawled underneath. The fabric was acting like a prism and would reflect the light all around underneath the cover including underneath the plants. I like to think of it being superior to our unbridled sun. As the light meter shows even in the winter we have a plentiful supply of sun.

I have grown broccoli to full term under 70 starting in August and harvesting side shoots all the way into April. There never has been any indication that the plants were suffering from light deprivation. In fact they thrived.

I also checked the meter readings under the 19 covers and this too checked out.

During most of our winters we seldom have extremely low temperature. Historically we have had very cold weather and some of these cold spells historicly have recorded into the minus digits. The coldest I have experienced has been 1.5 degrees. It is important to note that the vast majority of veggies start dropping like flies when temperatures reach 20 degrees. Parsnips and garlic are the exceptions to this rule. The important note is they need to be in a dormant state. This is one of the big problems with our climate. There are very large temperature swings. A very good example of this was during the first two months of 2011. The last few days of January the high temperatures were in the sixties with the highest temperature being near 70, then within the first couple of days of February we experienced a low of 1.5 then the following weekend we were well above freezing then the next week down to five degrees and then above freezing by that weekend. Then within the next three months we were hitting 100 degrees. West Texas has some very harsh conditions for us let alone plants that have to be outside.

I always follow weather forecasts very closely. Before the February freeze there was a week in advance notice. I spent that time preparing for it but I think the depth of the chill caught most folks by surprise including weather forecasters.

I am forever grateful for the fabric. Everything got covered with at least one layer of 19 but most had two layers and some were covered with the 70. If it were not for the fabric I would have needed to replant the garden after the freezes. The only 100 percent moralities were my cauliflower and radishes. After the freeze the lettuce looked like a casualty but after removing all the dead frozen outer leaves that had protected the center the lettuce made a full recovery within a month. Within two weeks of the freezes I was harvesting chard. This could not have been possible without the fabric. I then proceeded to garden through the next summer even as hot and dry as it was. Where a lot of folks either gave up or didn't even try to garden, the fabric leveled the playing field and I gardened through it. This success was due to the fabric but I also had well established plants before the onslaught of hot dry windy weather. Nothing magical just dumb luck and fabric.

If I had not been sold on fabric before this I surely was afterward. I have not found the fabric to over heat plants. In fact in the summer it cools because of the reflective qualities from being white. Any appearances of over heating is from hand watering and there is not enough water getting through the fabric to hydrate the plants. It is easy to water through the fabric, but it is imperative to make sure it is well watered (with a visual check).

There are some disadvantages of the fabric, from my experience two are the worst. They are: it makes a great habitat for aphids and during the spring when we have dust devils I have had fabric get launched. Usually the dust devils will just pull the fabric off the bed but on occasion I have had the fabric fly up a couple hundred feet and just fly away. This worries me and for spring I beef up the rocks holding down the fabric.

Yes I could garden without fabric but it sure levels the playing field. Like with all tools you do need to learn how to use it.

This week I anticipate harvesting: chard, kale, carrots, green onions, Asian greens, lettuce, beets and snow peas. Please email me as to availability.