Farmers have been using plastic mulch, but paper mulch provides protection against some of the pesky weeds that farmers struggle with, such as nutsedge. “Nutsedge will not come through the paper that we’re using with WestRock. The only place where nutsedge can come through is in the hole where we plant the watermelon transplant. That’s an incredible advancement, because we do not have really good control measures chemically for nutsedge in watermelons,” said Bob Hochmuth, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Regional Specialized Extension agent.
Paper Mulch Provides Incredible Potential for Southeast Watermelon Farmers – Specialty Crop Grower