Test Marketing of New Label in Southwest Florida for USA Grown/Living Wage Produce

Test Marketing of New Label in Southwest Florida for USA Grown/Living Wage Produce

Summary

When Southern highbush blueberry plants are grown on sandy soils, they are more productive if they are mulched with organic material. In our mulch comparison, plants mulched with pine bark have grown a 33% larger canopy than plants mulched with composted yard waste. Fruit yield has not yet been affected by mulch treatment. If yield continues to remain the same between treatments, then yard waste may become an alternative mulch option if pine bark supplies become limited or too expensive. This use of yard waste would be an example of converting a waste material to a resource.

Objectives/Performance Targets

Yard waste compost was obtained from a composting operation that collected it from coastal urban counties, and pine bark was purchased from a mulch supplier. Replicated rows of blueberry plants were mulched with either yard waste or pine bark. Plant height, width, and fruit yield have been measured throughout the 2-year duration of the trial. A judgment will be made at the end of the trial to determine if yard waste was a satisfactory substitute for pine bark, which is the standard mulching material for blueberry plants in the southeast USA.

Accomplishments/Milestones

Mulches were applied to 2-year-old blueberry plants in the summer of 2001. Plant height and widths were measured in Nov of 2001 and Feb of 2003. Blueberry yields were measured in April and May of 2002. Plants growing with pine bark mulch had average canopy volumes of 2.1 and 5.6 ft3 in Nov 2001 and Feb 2003, respectively. Plants growing with yard waste mulch had average canopy volumes of 1.8 and 4.2 ft3 in Nov 2001 and Feb 2003, respectively. Therefore, in a 15-month period, plants mulched with pine bark grew 33% larger than plants mulched with yard waste. Pine bark plants produced an average of 7.0 oz of fresh berries per plant in April and May 2002, while yard waste plants produced an average of 7.9 oz per plant. Yields for the 2003 crop year are now being measured, so we will determine if the larger canopy plants (pine bark) produce more berries than the smaller plants (yard waste).

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

Producers who use mulch on their crops will promote organics composting and recycling by demonstrating that municipal solid waste, particularly urban plant debris (yard trimmings and the like) can be used as a mulch and/or soil amendment in place of more traditionally-used materials like pine bark. This use of yard trimmings would represent the conversion of a waste to a resource.

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