In article
,
Billy wrote:

In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

Andy Petro wrote:
I plan to use black plastic covering for my peppers this summer in
zone 5 . How do i do it . How does it get watered and fertilized.

Why do you want to do this? Presumeably for weed control. How to feed and
water your plants is just a small part of the problems. You should also
consider:

How do you hold it down in a high wind?
What do you do with the bits as the plastic breaks down?
How do you deal with the weeds in the holes and splits?
How do you tell if watering is adequate?
Where does the rain go?
How do the roots respire?
How do you stop the roots and soil microbes from being cooked?

David

David,
I don't know what part of the country he is in, but Ibelieve he said
that he was in a region 5. See explanation:
http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/hrdzon3.html
In the winter it will get down to -26°C - -29°C, so it is a fairly cool
spot. By using "plastic mulch" (sheets of plastic sheeting), he can
raise the soil temperature, and the plant should develop more quickly
than in cold soil. The sheeting is usually good for 3 years, and care
must be taken during hot weather not to fry your plants.
http://lubbock.tamu.edu/horticulture...lasticMulchTyp
eonTomatoGrowthandYield_2004_.pdf

Being in region 5 myself. Peppers have been a problem for me as well.
The season is short, just one hundred days from frost to frost. I have
never used plastic either. I will guess that Billy is correct, it is to
raise the soil temperature. I have found bugs and weeds rarely effect my
pepper plants. I started my pepper plants indoors in Mid March this
year, not early enough to get nice red or gold sweet bell peppers, just
green. Most summers in Michigan are mild - upper 70's°F to Mid eighties
during the day, mid sixties at night. However, on occasion some summers
have hung around the low nineties. Rare to get above 100°F.

I use raised beds for my peppers. In raised beds soil temp does get
warmer faster. Still, I think I need to start peppers indoors in early
February.

My guess, not positive, that a drip irrigation system waters and
fertilizes the plants. Leave a future posting and let me know how well
plastic sheeting works.

--
Enjoy Life... Dan

Garden in Zone 5 South East Michigan.