How your Crops Can Benefit from Chicken Netting
Although designed to provide shelter and protection for poultry farming, use of chicken netting for crop protection is also very common these days. The main concern for the use of poultry protection is the potential of wild birds gaining entry into the chicken pens. These birds could bring with them diseases – like salmonella and flu – that could harm or kill the chickens. Additionally, wild birds can also eat the bird feeds allocated for the chicken. That means loss of capital for the farmers as these feeds are meant to convert ordinary chickens into high quality meat. With wild birds attacking, spreading diseases and eating the feeds, the farmer will eventually end up with decreased poultry farm yield.
Protecting Fruit and Vegetable Crops with Chicken Netting
Use of chicken wire is an inexpensive way of providing protection for your vegetable or fruit crops. But, if you are considering a high quality and truly reliable protective barrier between your plants and the trespassers, then you need to buy commercially available chicken netting. This netting system works in similar way like that of trellinet, as it can also give sufficient protection while good flow of air and direct exposure to sunlight are assured.
Commercial poultry netting is commonly made of galvanized-steel fencing or netting material. This type of netting was originally designed with the intent of providing enclosure, shelter and security to poultry coops. It means that this kind of product is definitely durable. If chicken nettings are designed to protect living animals, then they would surely do a good job protecting plants.
Uses of Poultry Netting for Agricultural Purposes
One significant use of poultry netting for your crops is that it can effectively deter animals like birds and deer from attacking your crops and causing damage that would potentially result to less or no yield, at all.
Deer is of course a big animal compared to birds, and they may be able to jump over the netting or push it down if they are really hankering for fruits or vegetables. If that is the case, it is advisable to lay the chicken netting down. It should be staked loosely to the soil surrounding the area that you want to be deer-free.
Ensuring Increased Yields with Highly Protected Crops
There are several ways to ensure that your crops will yield more and fast. Trellising or use of trellinet is one way, as this system is designed to be strong enough to provide sufficient support for even the heaviest crops – like tomatoes, cucumbers, beans and peas. If you are growing any kind of climbing vegetables, then trellising is a perfect choice.
For faster yields, the Sea of Green is the most recommended method. This method, also known as SoG, was designed primarily to encourage marijuana plants to flower faster than they normally would. Weeds can be forced to flower through the SoG method by growing several plants close to each other. The plants form the canopy of leaves and buds as they get bigger. The secret to the Sea of Green method is that plants are forced to grow faster because they are growing closely together. So, the plants do not stay in the vegetative state long. Instead, they use most of their available energy for producing flowers and fruits.
To use SoG you must first sprout the root clones or seeds – in grow blocks or a one-gallon bucket will do. Wait for two weeks or check if the weedlings (for marijuana) or seedlings (for other crops) have grown. To encourage fast growth, you need to use the right lighting for effectively vegetative growth. The room must be filled with strong lights. It is important that the lights are kept at high levels so that all your plants are getting equal amount of light. This method will encourage the plants to grow fast and flower.
If you are going to use the SoG method, you need to know that you need to water less. It is also important not to over fertilize as this can cause stretching out of the plants. Additionally, maintaining a steady good flow of air over the top of the crops is necessary.
Both trellising and SoG methods are recommended for gardens with limited space. The latter is also best if you have limited time in your hands.
Important Gardening Guides
Whether you are gardening as a hobby or to earn money, it is important to understand that the safety of the plants should be your priority. Being a farmer is not easy. Plants cannot take care of themselves – at least the ones that you would probably be planting. Use of protective methods is recommended so that your crops are prevented from being attacked by pests, weeds, birds and diseases.
Use of protective methods – like trellising, tomato rings, SROG, SoG and chicken netting – is highly advisable as they are designed to eliminate potential agricultural or farming issues. Most of these methods (like SoG) do not just protect the crops from invaders, they also encourage faster yields. Other methods (like tomato rings) prevent the crops from rotting.
One important thing to keep in mind is to make sure that you know what kind of protective method you need. This can be easily established by deciding on what crops to plant, measuring the garden, identifying the potential invaders and attackers, and the time you have until harvest season.