I have surveyed two farms in the Willamette Valley and we are seeing NO MORE APOTHECIA. Yay!
Image by Jade Florence. Bluettas in Bloom
I recently received a related inquiry regarding apothecia presence and the Visqueen-Mulch system. I answer the question below.
Here’s the question:
Thanks so much for your blog and analysis.
We are using the plastic this year to see how this limits mummy berry in the coming season. One thing we are wondering, is there any damage done to the plant ecosystem, roots, etc. by having this plastic down. We have buttoned it up snuggly around the plant crowns, and down into the aisles… We are wondering when we can start to remove this plastic. We haven’t seen apothecia, but they could be present – they are pretty good at hiding. When will the folks using plastic remove it? We are slightly north of you, but our climate is quite similar to yours, I believe.
Again thanks for your help. We hope to get down to one of your workshops soon!
Response:
As far as I’ve seen around the Willamette Valley, there are no more apothecia.
However, based on Ken Berg’s system, you should pull back the Visqueen after all the blooms are gone/done, or the vast majority anyway – which is generally around the end of May. This will allow mummies to naturally drop at harvest, so they can be covered again the next February.
If you want to remove it sooner, there’s a scouting video in the Multimedia tab up top^^. You can try to see for yourself whether or not apothecia are still being produced on your farm.
I haven’t seen any particular research saying that damage is done to the soil ecosystem by having plastic down. Although, I have presented data on weed mat systems at our grower workshops, which may be transferable to Visqueen plastic.
Image by Jade Florence. Blueberries with Weed Mat
If you choose to use weed mats as a year-round weed control strategy, there needs to be a drip irrigation system set up beneath the weed mat or plants may not get watered enough. You may want to consider this for the visqueen plastic also.
Additionally, it’s best to put some organic matter under your weed mat/visqueen plastic. However, if you’re following the Visqueen-Mulch system directions that I posted in February, you’ve already mulched under your plastic.
I hope everyone is having a good growing season. Happy April!
