Abstract
Increasing interest in using cover crops and reduced tillage to build soil health has created a demand for strategies to implement rolled cover crop systems. In northern areas of the United States, cool soil temperature in rolled cover crop systems can create a challenge when growing warm season vegetable crops. The use of rowcovers could mitigate the issue and facilitate adoption of rolled cover crop systems for both conventional and organic growers. This study investigated muskmelon ( Cucumis melo ) in two production systems, strip tillage (ST) into rolled cereal rye ( Secale cereale ) or conventional tillage with black plastic mulch (plasticulture), with or without the use of spunbonded polypropylene rowcovers. The trial was conducted in two fields, one in organic management and the other in conventional management. In general, ST led to cooler, moister soils than plasticulture, but rowcovers rarely affected soil temperature. Rowcovers increased mean and maximum daily air temperature by up to 4.2 and 11.7 °C, respectively, and decreased average daily light intensity by 33% to 37%. Rowcovers sometimes increased fruit size, but rarely affected marketable yield. Overall, ST reduced marketable yield compared with plasticulture by 6732 to 9900 lb/acre; however, ST with rowcovers often produced similar vegetative growth compared with plasticulture without rowcovers. Given the slow vining growth habit of muskmelon and the late planting inherent in a rolled cereal rye system, achieving high muskmelon yields, especially early yields, may be difficult.
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Claims 10
Claim · model-written summary
Strip tillage produced cooler and moister soil than plasticulture.
- Taxon
- muskmelon
.jpg?width=60)
Cucumis meloe1 - Treatment
- STe0
- Outcome
- soilse0
- Direction
- cooler, moistere0
- Comparator
- plasticulturee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e0“In general, ST led to cooler, moister soils than plasticulture”
e1“This study investigated muskmelon ( Cucumis melo )”
Claim · model-written summary
Rowcovers rarely affected soil temperature.
- Taxon
- muskmelonCucumis meloe1
- Treatment
- rowcoverse0
- Outcome
- soil temperaturee0
Not reportedComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“rowcovers rarely affected soil temperature”
e1“This study investigated muskmelon ( Cucumis melo )”
Claim · model-written summary
Rowcovers increased mean daily air temperature by up to 4.2 °C.
- Taxon
- muskmelonCucumis meloe1
- Treatment
- Rowcoverse0
- Outcome
- mean and maximum daily air temperaturee0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- 4.2e0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Rowcovers increased mean and maximum daily air temperature by up to 4.2 and 11.7 °C, respectively”
e1“muskmelon ( Cucumis melo )”
Claim · model-written summary
Rowcovers increased maximum daily air temperature by up to 11.7 °C.
- Taxon
- muskmelonCucumis meloe1
- Treatment
- Rowcoverse0
- Outcome
- maximum daily air temperaturee0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- 11.7 °Ce0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Rowcovers increased mean and maximum daily air temperature by up to 4.2 and 11.7 °C, respectively”
e1“muskmelon ( Cucumis melo )”
Claim · model-written summary
Rowcovers decreased daily light intensity by 33% to 37%.
- Taxon
- muskmelonCucumis meloe2
- Treatment
- Rowcoverse1
- Outcome
- average daily light intensitye0
- Direction
- decreasede0
- Value
- 33% to 37%e0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“decreased average daily light intensity by 33% to 37%”
e1“Rowcovers increased mean and maximum daily air temperature”
e2“muskmelon ( Cucumis melo )”
Claim · model-written summary
Rowcovers sometimes increased muskmelon fruit size.
- Taxon
- muskmelonCucumis meloe1
- Treatment
- Rowcoverse0
- Outcome
- fruit sizee0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Qualifier
- sometimese0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Rowcovers sometimes increased fruit size”
e1“muskmelon ( Cucumis melo )”
Claim · model-written summary
Rowcovers rarely affected marketable yield.
- Taxon
- muskmelonCucumis meloe1
- Treatment
- rowcoverse0
- Outcome
- marketable yielde0
Not reportedComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Rowcovers sometimes increased fruit size, but rarely affected marketable yield.”
e1“muskmelon ( Cucumis melo )”
Claim · model-written summary
Strip tillage reduced marketable yield relative to plasticulture by 6732 to 9900 lb/acre.
- Taxon
- muskmelonCucumis meloe1
- Treatment
- STe0
- Outcome
- marketable yielde0
- Direction
- reducede0
- Value
- 6732 to 9900 lb/acree0
- Comparator
- plasticulturee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“ST reduced marketable yield compared with plasticulture by 6732 to 9900 lb/acre”
e1“muskmelon ( Cucumis melo )”
Claim · model-written summary
Strip tillage with rowcovers often yielded similar vegetative growth to plasticulture without rowcovers.
- Taxon
- muskmelonCucumis meloe1
- Treatment
- ST with rowcoverse0
- Outcome
- vegetative growthe0
- Direction
- similare0
- Comparator
- plasticulture without rowcoverse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“ST with rowcovers often produced similar vegetative growth compared with plasticulture without rowcovers”
e1“muskmelon ( Cucumis melo )”
Claim · model-written summary
High muskmelon yields, especially early yields, may be difficult in rolled cereal rye systems.
- Taxon
- muskmelonCucumis meloe0
- Outcome
- achieving high muskmelon yields, especially early yields, may be difficulte0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“achieving high muskmelon yields, especially early yields, may be difficult”
The same questions in other papers
tillage · quality: postharvest · Cucumis melo (muskmelon)Positive and negative results
1 in the opposite direction
- positive
tillage · growth · Cucumis melo (muskmelon)Positive and negative results
1 paper in the same direction as this paper · 4 in the opposite direction
- positive
- positive
- positive
2 papers more in this group
See all 6 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.