Crops Working Group Progress Report Biodegradable Mulches for Specialty Crops Produced Under Protective Covers Crops Working Group Progress Report Annette Wszelaki and Jeff Martin, TN Russ Wallace and Joel Webb, TX Carol Miles, Tom Walters, Debbie Inglis, Jonathan Roozen, Babette Gundersen, Jacky King and Jeremy Cowan, WA

Crops WG key objectives: Evaluate high-value crops commonly used in high tunnel production in relation to productivity, environmental conditions, pest/disease threats, and profitability. Evaluate tomatoes grown in HT versus open field settings with five BDM treatments and a bareground control.

Tomatoes

Tomato Results HT plots out-yielded OF plots in all 3 locations For total yield, Celebrity and Early Girl out-yielded Cherokee Purple in HTs in TX (‘10) and TN (’10 and ‘11); Celebrity out-yielded both varieties in the OF plots (‘10) In WA, Early Girl and Cherokee Purple out-yielded Celebrity (‘11) for total yields Early Girl had higher marketable yields in both the OF and HT plots than the other varieties

Marketable Yield (kg/plot)  TOMATO Total Yield (kg/plot) Marketable Yield (kg/plot) 2010 2011 Knoxville Production System 0.0004 <0.0001 Variety 0.0079 0.0003 PS * V 0.0032 0.0641 0.4903 Lubbock 0.2249 0.0831 0.0181 Mount Vernon 0.0103 0.0009 0.9591 0.0013 0.0020 0.1222 0.3923 0.1948 0.2168

Marketable Yield (kg/plot)  TOMATO Total Yield (kg/plot) Marketable Yield (kg/plot) 2010 2011 Knoxville High Tunnel 48.7 a 50.0 a 11.7 a 25.6 a Open Field 25.5 b 29.4 b 1.0 b 13.4 b Significance 0.0004 <0.0001 Lubbock 56.3 a 29.9 a 18.1 a 17.0 a 0.0 b 2.9 b Mount Vernon 26.5 a 35.6 a 4.2 a 21.0 a 5.9 b 7.3 b 0.5 b 3.3 b 0.0103 0.0009

Marketable Yield (kg/plot)  TOMATO Total Yield (kg/plot) Marketable Yield (kg/plot) High Tunnels Open Field 2010 2011 Knoxville Early Girl 58.8 a 60.9 a 23.3 b 32.9 a 24.8 a 37.4 a 2.0 a 21.8 a Celebrity 50.6 a 55.5 a 31.4 a 34.2 a 9.7 b 23.6 b 0.8 b 12.0 b Ch. Purple 36.5 b 33.5 b 21.7 b 21.2 b 0.6 c 15.8 b 0.2 b 6.5 c Significance 0.0064 0.0032 0.011 <0.0001 0.0051 0.0024 0.001 Lubbock 69.7 a 26.7 11.9 b 40.0 a 20.1 4.8 a 67.0 a 36.3 23.6 a 10.7 b 19.2 3.6 ab 32.2 b 26.8 4.8 b 3.6 b 11.8 0.3 b 0.029 0.1459 0.0063 1.0 0.002 0.1302 0.05 Mount Vernon 27.4 37.9 a 5.7 6.9 8.9 a 32.7 a 1.4 5.7 a 25.4 23.1 b 4.7 5.2 2.9 a 10.5 c 0.2 1.9 b 45.8 a 7.2 9.8 0.7 b 20.0 b 0.0 2.4 b 0.483 0.0036 0.1354 NS 0.0331 0.0007 0.0657 0.0222

Lettuce

Lettuce Results No difference between HTs and OFs yields in TX or WA; TN results varied by year and weather conditions Romaines were top performing type in all three locations

Marketable Yield (kg/plot)  LETTUCE Total Yield (kg/plot) Marketable Yield (kg/plot) 2010 2011 Knoxville Production System 0.0129 0.4178 0.0038 <0.0001 Variety 0.0702 0.0003 0.0553 PS * V 0.0057 0.0531 Lubbock 0.2004 0.1775 0.2006 0.2699 0.0006 0.0195 0.0167 0.1946 0.1992 Mount Vernon 0.9749 0.7367 0.1377 0.7825 0.5142 0.6682 0.7022 0.1535 0.3939 0.0025

Marketable Yield (kg/plot)  LETTUCE Total Yield (kg/plot) Marketable Yield (kg/plot) 2010 2011 Knoxville High Tunnel 15.4 a 15.0 4.3 b 10.5 a Open Field 11.9 b 14.1 8.5 a 6.7 b Significance 0.0129 0.4178 0.0038 <0.0001 Lubbock 17.0 18.1 16.7 17.5 16.3 15.4 15.8 0.2004 0.2006 0.1775 0.2699 Mount Vernon 16.6 19.6 8.4 8.7 19.8 10.5 0.9749 0.7367 0.1377 0.7825

Lettuce Total Yield (kg/plot) Lettuce Marketable Yield (kg/plot) Knoxville Lubbock Mount Vernon HT OF Variety 2010* 2011 2010 Coastal Star 13.2 19.8 a 16.6 a 22.9 b 23.0 a 21.1 a 24.0 b 22.2 a 17.4 26.5 a 17.9 29.0 ab Jericho Star 15.2 21.8 a 14.6 ab 27.9 a 23.6 a 22.3 a 28.7 a 20.2 29.5 a 23.1 23.7 b Ermosa 22.7 13.3 b 10.9 c 9.2 cd 14.3 b 18.8 ab 12.4 d 12.4 bc 14.0 29.6 a 9.5 32.6 a Adriana 16.6 14.8 b 10.4 c 10.7 c 15.2 b 19.4 a 11.2 d 11.6 c 21.5 8.9 c 15.7 8.9 d New Red Fire 8.0 c 6.4 d 5.8 e 11.6 b 10.7 b 12.0 d 12.8 bc 10.6 13.9 b 21.9 13.6 c Greenstar 11.5 12.5 b 12.3 bc 7.9 de 14.4 b 16.2 ab 20.3 c 16.5 b 16.0 9.0 c 14.1 10.8 cd Significance 0.1026 <.0001 0.0017 0.7563 0.6321 Lettuce Marketable Yield (kg/plot) Knoxville Lubbock Mount Vernon HT OF Variety 2010* 2011 2010 Coastal Star 6.5 18.6 a 14.7 a 5.0 bc 23.0 17.8 23.1 b 21.6 a 10.2 11.5 b 12.5 10.0 b Jericho Star 5.1 9.8 bc 2.6 c 23.6 22.3 27.9 a 20.2 ab 6.2 19.0 a 10.3 13.3 a Ermosa 2.7 7.2 c 7.6 bc 9.0 a 14.3 18.8 3.1 d 12.2 cd 10.8 4.3 c 8.1 8.5 b Adriana 8.2 bc 7.4 bc 10.0 a 15.2 19.4 6.2 d 11.4 d 5.0 5.0 c 5.4 c New Red Fire 3.9 7.9 bc 3.9 c 5.8 b 11.6 10.7 12.0 c 12.8 cd 6.9 6.3 c 12.1 7.5 bc Greenstar 4.7 7.9 ab 12.7 16.2 20.3 b 16.5 bc 11.1 6.2 c 9.5 5.7 c Significance 0.0637 0.0001 0.0024 0.0013 0.2360 <.0001 0.0012 0.3600 0.8194 0.0003

Strawberries

Strawberry Results High tunnel plots out-yield open field plots in TX and TN Spring planting did not work well in TX and TN Plugs out-performed bare-rooted plants Festival top performer in HTs in TX and TN; Albion in WA In general, dayneutral varieties Albion and San Andreas were more productive in WA, while the June-bearing varieties, like Strawberry Festival had higher marketable yields in TX and TN

Marketable Yield (kg/plot)  STRAWBERRY Total Yield (kg/plot) Marketable Yield (kg/plot) 2010 2011 Knoxville Production System <0.0001 Variety 0.0007 0.0005 0.0012 0.0008 PS * V 0.0020 0.0605 0.0021 0.0402 Lubbock NA Mount Vernon 0.0646 0.6913 0.6409 0.1479 0.0159 0.0879 0.0698 0.1600 0.1923 0.3457

Marketable Yield (kg/plot)  STRAWBERRY Total Yield (kg/plot) Marketable Yield (kg/plot) 2010 2011 Knoxville High Tunnel 1.1 a 8.3 a 0.9 a 6.2 a Open Field 0.1 b 2.5 b 1.6 b Significance <0.0001 Lubbock 10.1 a 9.3 a 1.5 b 1.1 b NA   NA Mount Vernon 10.8 7.6 8.2 6.8 12.8 7.8 8.0 6.5 0.0635 0.6913 0.6409 0.1479

2011 Strawberry Total Yield (kg/plot)  2010 Total Strawberry Yield (kg/plot) Knoxville Lubbock Mount Vernon Variety HT OF San Andreas (B) 0.9 b 0.05 b 10.5 10.8 b Albion (B) 0.09 b 11.0 13.0 a Seascape (B) 1.6 a 0.22 a  14.6 a Significance 0.0031 0.0018  NA 0.8564 0.0038 2011 Strawberry Total Yield (kg/plot) Knoxville Lubbock Mount Vernon Variety HT OF San Andreas (B) 7.6 ab 1.8 bc 6.1 d 0.4 c 11.6 b 13.3 c Albion (P) 10.2 a 5.0 a 9.6 c 3.5 a 20.5 a 21.0 a Albion (B) 5.4 b 1.6 c 5.3 d 13.4 b 16.3 b Chandler (P) 9.8 a 1.5 c  10.8 bc 1.4 c 1.1 e Festival (P) 11.1 a 3.0 b 15.4 a 2.4 a 3.5 c 2.3 de LCN (P) 5.9 b 1.9 bc 13.5 ab 1.7 b 4.4 c 4.1 d Significance 0.0168 0.0002 <0.0001

2011 Marketable Strawberry Yield (kg/plot) Knoxville Lubbock Mount Vernon Variety HT OF San Andreas (B) 0.6 b 0.01 b 8.0 6.7 c Albion (B) 0.8 b 0.04 b 8.4 8.1 b Seascape (B) 1.3 a  0.13 a 8.3 9.3 a Significance 0.0037 0.0026  NA 0.9371 0.0043 2011 Marketable Strawberry Yield (kg/plot) Knoxville Lubbock Mount Vernon Variety HT OF San Andreas (B) 5.5 bcd 1.4 bc 12.3 d 0.6 c 8.4 b 8.7 c Albion (P) 7.5 ab 3.4 a 19.4 c 6.4 a 15.1 a 14.3 a Albion (B) 4.0 d 1.2 bc 10.8 d 0.7 c 9.9 ab 10.8 b Chandler (P) 7.0 abc 0.9 c 22.2 bc 0.6 d 0.5 f Festival (P) 8.6 a 1.8 b 31.4 a 3.8 b 2.9 c 1.8 e LCN (P) 4.5 cd 1.0 bc 26.2 ab 2.9 b 3.4 c 2.5 d Significance 0.0156 0.0003 <0.0001

Slide courtesy of Russ Wallace, Texas A & M

Strawberry vs. Blackberry

BDMs

BDM Results WeedGuardPlus, BioTelo and BioBag had the greatest number of RTH, PVD, AUMDC values at all three sites Values were greater in OF than HTs SB-PLA-10 showed no deterioration at all sites and was equivalent to black plastic Weed growth at Knoxville and Mount Vernon was greatest under SB-PLA-10 Total # and total fruit weight were lowest for bare ground at both Knoxville and Mount Vernon; BioBag tended to have the highest yield in WA

# of RTH/bed in WA High Tunnel 16-Jun 30-Jun 14-Jul 28-Jul 16-Aug 2-Sep 15-Sep 29-Sep BioBag 1.8 3.0 a 2.5 a 7.3 a 7.8 b 12.8 b 14.0 b 15.8 ab BioTelo 3.8 3.8 a 4.3 a 9.5 a 15.5 a 22.5 a 26.3 a 28.5 a WeedGuardPlus 0.3 2.0 a 2.3 a 4.5 b 5.8 b 6.0 bc 9.8 b 9.5 ab SB-PLA-10 0.0 0.0 b 0.0 c 0.0 d Black Plastic 0.8 c 1.3 c 1.5 c 1.5 b P value 0.0625 0.0011 0.0005 <.0001 Open Field   0.5 yz 1.3 y 2.0 yz 9.3 x 10.5 xy 19.5 y 20.8 y 21.8 x 1.5 xy 1.8 y 6.0 x 13.0 x 18.3 x 17.0 y 28.3 y 33.5 x 4.8 x 5.0 x 6.8 x 7.3 x 7.5 xy 11.5 y 25.0 y 72.8 w 0.0 z 0.5 z 0.8 y 1.5 z 2.8 z 3.0 z 0.8 yz 2.8 xy 6.3 x 5.5 yz 10.0 y 10.5 z 13.8 y 0.0069 0.0020 0.0043 0.0013 0.0104 0.0099 0.0009

# of RTH/bed in TX High Tunnel 28-May 7-Jun 22-Jun 19-Jul 8-Oct BioBag 0.0 1.3 1.5 ab z 13.3 ab BioTelo 0.8 1.0 1.0 b 17.0 a WeedGuardPlus 1.5 4.0 a 23.5 a SB-PLA-10 0.0 b Black Plastic P value 0.1024 0.3872 0.0264 0.0272 Open Field   2.8 xy 1.8 z 4.0 y 7.5 y 13.3 z 4.3 x 6.5 y 7.0 x 8.3 y 7.8 z 0.0 z 4.5 y 29.5 y 0.3 yz 0.5 z 0.008 0.0005 0.0001 0.001

Total weed # and FW (g) per 0.6 m2 Knoxville, TN Mount Vernon, WA First Flower Final Harvest Weed # (plot-1) Weed FW (g plot-1) Field location High tunnel 11.3 15.0 3.4 41.6 25.5 341.6 6.9 19.3 Open field 9.2 13.6 3.0 54.1 35.7 256.8 6.1 10.1 P value 0.3767 0.8377 0.5034 0.5066 0.2951 0.0593 0.5018 0.7164 Mulch Treatment BioBag 2.3 bu 4.6 b 0.0 b 18.8 b 91.0 b 1.3 b 1.4 b BioTelo 2.1 b 1.9 b 10.4 b 154.1 b 2.4 b 6.2 b WeedGuardPlus 1.8 b 0.7 b 13.1 b 55.7 b 3.3 b 2.3 b SB-PLA-10 123.7 a 190.8 a 16.0 a 47.4 a 98.5 a 1027.9 a 24.3 a 61.1 a Black Plastic 0.3 b 0.5 b 12.3 b 167.3 b 2.7 b <0.0001 0.0163 0.0085

Total # and Weight for Tomato Fruit Knoxville, TN Lubbock, TX Mount Vernon, WA Production System Fruit # (plot-1) Fruit Wt. (kg plot-1) High Tunnel 175.2 a 29.2 425.2 a 45.0 a 72.7 a 18.7 a Open Field 123.6 b 28.1 244.0 b 28.3 b 14.0 b 2.0 b P value <0.0001 0.5797  0.0001 0.0008 0.0005 Mulch Treatment   BioBag 155.3 y 29.7 y 315.9 34.1 51.1 x 12.5 w BioTelo 148.9 y 28.5 y 312.0 35.1 49.6 xy 12.0 wx WeedGuardPlus 152.6 y 29.3 y 315.5 32.5 42.9 xyz 10.0 xyz SB-PLA-10 156.4 y 29.8 y 389.0 43.1 39.0 y 9.0 yz Black Plastic 167.3 y 32.0 y 306.0 43.1 xy 10.1 wxy Bareground 116.0 z 22.7 z 369.1 42.4 34.4 z 8.3 z 0.0397 0.0249 0.6209 0.3950 0.0083 0.0036

Deliverables

Abstracts 5 abstracts to professional meetings submitted to date 6 planned for submission to ASHS 2012 Proposed colloquium for BDM’s for ASHS 2012

Manuscripts Evaluation of Biodegradable Spun-Melt 100% Polylactic Acid Nonwovens Mulch Materials in a Greenhouse Environment (In review in Journal of Engineered Fibers and Fabrics) Deterioration of Potentially Biodegradable Alternatives to Plastic Mulch in Three Tomato Production Regions (In internal review to be submitted to HortScience) Lettuce Yield and Quality When Grown Under High Tunnels in Three Diverse Climates (In preparation to be submitted to HortTech) Case Study on High Tunnels (In preparation to be submitted to HortTech)

Presentations 33 presentations by WA Crops WG team members 21 presentations by TN Crops WG team members 25 presentations by TX Crops WG team members 79 presentations TOTAL since project inception

Questions?