Living mulches

Living mulches are plants interplanted with the annual or perennial cash crop for... 

Living mulches in perennial cropping systems are grasses or legumes planted in the alleyways between rows in orchards and vineyards. Use of the living mulch is a common practice in apple (Malus sylvestris L.) production. Wick and Alleweldt... 

Hairy vetch (V. villosa Roth) Cover crop Residue or living mulch Cover crop residues... 

Yu JQ, Masui YH (1997) Effects of root exudates of cucumber and allelochemicals onion uptake by cucumber seedling. J Chem Ecol 23 817-827 Zemenchik RA, Albrecht KA, Boerboom CM, Lauer JG (2000) Com production with kura clover as a living mulch. Agron J 92 698-705... 

Hooks, C.R.R., Valenzuela, H.R. and Defrank, J. 1998. Incidence of pests and arthropod natural enemies in zucchini grown with living mulches. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 69 217-231. 

Leary, J. and Defrank, J. 2000. Living mulches for organic farming systems. HortTechnology 10(4) 692-698. 

Paine, L.K. and Harrison, H. 1993. The historical roots of living mulch and related practices. HortTechnology 3 137-143. 

Brandsaeter, L.O., Netland, J. and Meadow, R. 1998. Yields, weeds, pests and soil nitrogen in a white cabbage-living mulch system. Biological Agriculture and Horticulture 16 291-309. 

Hall, J.K. and N.L. Hartwig (1990). Triazine herbicide fate in a no-tillage corn (Zea mays L.)-crownvetch (Coronilla varia L.) living mulch system. Agric. Ecosys. Environ., 30 281-293. 

Residues of hairy vetch following desiccation with a contact herbicide in Maryland reduced weed emergence during the first 4 weeks after desiccation (Teasdale, 1993 Teasdale and Daughtry, 1993). However, as hairy vetch residues decomposed, weed emergence became similar to that without a cover crop and a comparable weed biomass resulted. A living mulch of hairy vetch in the no-treatment control or a dead mulch in the mowed treatment improved weed control during the first 6 weeks of the season, but weed control deteriorated thereafter. 

Echtenkemp, G.W. and R.S. Moomaw (1989). No-till corn production in a living mulch system. Weed Technol., 3 261-266. 

Enache, A.J. and R.D. Ilnicki (1990). Weed control by subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum) used as a living mulch. Weed Technol., 4 534-538. 

Hartwig, N.L. (1988). Ten years of corn yields with and without crownvetch (Coronilla varia L.) living mulch. Weed Sci. Soc. Am. Abstr., 28 19. 

As mentioned, the water-holding capacity and nutrient levels of soils are lessened when erosion occurs. With conventional com production, erosion reduced the volume of moisture in the soil by about 50% compared with no-till corn culture. In contrast, soil moisture volume increased when com was grown in combination with living mulches. Estimates are that about 20 billion in fertilizer nutrients are lost annually from United States agriculture because of soil erosion. 

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