Moisture/Erosion control

[Anonymous-0]

This may be a stupid question, but...
You know that stuff they use on the roadsides after doing dirt work, the mesh/straw mat they lay down when they're done? Any reason why that couldn't be adapted to garden plots or something? Maybe even with fertilizer embedded in it? Or time-release fertilizer(if they can make cold medicine like that, why not fertilizer? Requires a certain amount of moisture to release it? Or a certain amount of sunshine, to release the fertilizer to the plant at the optimal time?)?

I guess it seems to me that if it's good enough to grow grass along the road, it should prove useful in other areas as well. And seems like we're always hearing about water shortages. Heck, maybe even use it in large-scale ag applications?

Or maybe I'm just nuts, but I've wondered about this for a while. What would it cost to produce? How hard would it be to apply? Maybe buy it in a big roll, and just unroll it on the field?

Maybe this is already being done, and I just haven't seen it in my neck of the woods.

Thoughts and opinions are appreciated.

Anthony Nubel

 

[paul]

Well, as you mention, the govt is doing it, so cost & effectiveness are not exactly an object......

Multch from straw to plastic to paper is commenly used for many different operations.

It is expensive, and then you need to deal with it the following year or 3 later - sometimes easy, sometimes not.

Encapsulated fertilizer is also possible, but so far it costs more for general use than just applying more fert to get what you need.....

There are several working projects to encapsule regular seed, like corn or soybeans, to where you can plant them any time & they weill not sprout until a certain temp or soil water content is hit. Problem is, much of the corn belt we plant corn just as soon as we can get in the fields these days - the anti-fungus coatings & hybred types allow us to plant in 40 degree soils these days, insted of 55 degree like we used to need. People in the fringe climates where corn doesn't grow well will not spend the extra $75 or so a bag for this technology, when they normally only get 80-110 bu of corn - so it just hasn't quite found it's place yet. Either needs to be cheaper, or offer garenteed profit.

Scale of the operation has a lot ot do with it - you are talking of high-dollar things. Doesn't work well with 200 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat.

Look into raised bed, intensive gardening and you will find all the things you talk about & then some - where they can gross $50,000 an acre and gain a lot from things that take a lot of labor, initial cost....

--->Paul

 

[Sam#3]

They have been marketing things like that for flower beds and lawn repair for years.
My guess is it's going to be costly and there will be a lot of reluctance to be the first to pay the price.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I put the straw mats, 'blankets', down a couple times a week for my job in the Sioux Falls area, eastern SD. The rolls we use are 500 feet long, 8 feet wide. These are the largest roles I know of, and they are all that two guys can handle. -Tyler

 

[Eric SEI]

I've seen it advertised, instant flower bed, the flower seed is already in the straw mat. Don't remember who had it or what the price was though.