Landscape fabric as ground cover on tomato bed - Ask Extension
This year I covered the whole bed with black landscape fabric and cut holes to put in the plants. The thought is, no dirt no blight. I was planning ...
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Landscape fabric as ground cover on tomato bed #646870
Asked June 06, 2020, 10:07 AM EDT
This year I covered the whole bed with black landscape fabric and cut holes to put in the plants. The thought is, no dirt no blight. I was planning to cover the fabric with mulch (chemical-free grass clippings) but the plants are looking so darn good I'm wondering if I should just leave it alone.
Question is, is exposed black fabric good or should I cover it with mulch?
Thank you.
Mower County Minnesota
Expert Response
Regrettably, the "no dirt, no blight" premise addresses just one of several ways disease pathogens reach tomato plants. They can also be transmitted by wind, insects, water, tools, transplants and seeds. Using the fabric will probably reduce but not eliminate the incidence of disease in your garden.
In some cases using landscape fabric can be problematic. Following are links to information that explains why:
Nevertheless, landscape fabric can be used to good effect in the vegetable garden for certain crops in some circumstances.
Covering landscape fabric with mulch in a permanent landscape is good practice for aesthetic reasons but the benefit of doing that in the vegetable garden is questionable. You will probably want to remove and store the fabric over winter. Then improve and amend the soil as needed before reusing the fabric.
