Learn More About Reemay- The Multipurpose Fabric

Have you been seeing your neighbor spread a white cover over their crops? Well, that is the Reemay polyester cover meant to protect the crop from frost damage. This sounds too simple but there are many other benefits of this covering.

In this article, we are going to tell you all about the particular fabric and associated aspects.

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About the Reemay Product

The floating row covers, commonly known with the name of FRC in the trading world, have been an essential part of the farmer’s kit since the advancement of gardening and cultivation art. Also known as garden blankets or garden fabric, it is widely used in plant nurseries and garden centers. Now you must be wondering why the name Reemay is used so much in this context.

The very reason for this is that Reemay was the first brand to have manufactured this product and was started in 1986. They produce spunbond polyester which claims to have several advantages like-

Flat bonding and free air circulation
Stiff trilobal fibers
Web uniformity
Exceptional mechanical draw
Dual-polyester built
Excellent for slitting and cutting

Reemay’s fabrics are known for their quality, strength, and purity. They found usage in major fields of geotextile, industrial, construction, and mechanics. Although gardening has nowhere been mentioned in their catalog, the Reemay fabric became a hit among gardeners as the qualities matched their requirements for a suitable garden cover.

Qualities of the Cover

The Reemay cloth is known for its amazing physical properties owing to 100% polyester material which is random-spunbonded. Let’s see some of its unique qualities that make the top buy of the gardeners.

The material is acid-free, so it doesn’t harm the object that it covers.
It incurs no physical change even after getting wet and remains stable dimensionally even if humidity changes.
It can be preferred over Hollytex as it has got denser fibers.
It displays enhanced structural resilience against acids, water, chemicals, and temperature changes. This makes it a preferred option for a lot of other activities beyond conservation.
The material is reusable as it can withstand being washed many times.

Uses of the Reemay Cloth

The particular has the most versatile uses in several fields. We are going to list the important ones for you.

The best use of the cover is used in conservation as well as preservation activities due to its strength and inert nature.
The conservators use it for backing, interleaving, lining, and supporting drying of paper infills.
It acts as a great cover for the crops and plants due to its unique properties. It allows around 75-85% of sunlight to penetrate through, thus it doesn’t stop the plant growth in any way. The best part is that it keeps the bugs away simultaneously.
It comes to the rescue of the plants mainly during the fall to protect them from frost damage till about 28 F.
It also protects the harmful insects from pollinating or incubating over them.
It proves helpful in extending the garden life by protecting it from major damages. It can be said that they are essential for the good growth of young plants. This also leads to the production of a more and better crop.
It keeps the soil moist and warm, thereby preventing the formation of hard and dried crust.

Method of Setting up the Row Cover

The setting up of the Reemay row covers doesn’t require any special technical knowledge other than when and how.

The right time to consider starting with covering the crops is when the weather starts changing. It is better to let it cover the crops throughout the fall. The late fall plants should be covered mandatorily.

Before beginning with the installation, you must prepare the crop bed. Now, you can either spread the cover directly over the crop or a little above if the plants are tall. Using PVC or metal hoops is a great choice to be stretched first around the crop over which the cover is suspended.

You can either staple the cover into the soil or press them down with any heavy object simply. If putting it over directly, then ensure to leave enough space so that when the crop grows, the cover naturally pushes upwards like floating.

The cover shall be removed once the crop is grown properly and rolled to store it back. Watch this video.

There are certain precautionary measures that you need to follow to keep the crop undamaged.

You must keep checking the covered crop at times to check for any weeding or pollination.
The temperature under the cover increases by 5-15 degrees. Take care of this aspect when it is high summer. Raise the ends or remove the cover totally.

Benefits of the Cover

There are many benefits of Reemay row covers as can be gauged from the specification of the material itself. Let’s see some crucial ones:

The covers are very durable; hence you can use them in multiple seasons with a little care.
They keep the temperature optimized, give frost protection, and protect against pets. This leads to higher yields and early harvests.
They help in the creation of some sort of microclimate where the crop bed gets a specific temperature and humidity.
The cover acts as a physical barrier to pest infestation, pest breakouts, and associated diseases.
You also wouldn’t need to spray insecticides and other pesticides as the covering is a natural method of insect netting. It also protects the crop further as some chemicals harm it in the longer run.
It cuts down the cost of maintenance to a considerable extent.

Disadvantages of the Cover

Nothing is flaw-free and nor are the Reemay cloth. Their application has few downsides too which are:

A considerable initial cost is involved in their installation.
It makes the cultivation process more tedious as you have to deal with the cover at every stage. Installing it first, removing at several steps, and then finally storing it away can become a burden.
More heat will increase irrigation needs.
The right timing of installation is imperative. If the weed has already crept in, it cannot be stopped. Also, if you install late, then the weather will cause damage.
The fabric degrades with time due to wind and sun exposure.

Additional Care and Reusing Tips

The Reemay fabric covers usually last for one to two seasons. Follow these tips to keep them in good shape:

Pin the edges properly.
To protect them against wind damage, secure them tightly over the hoops.
Store them properly away from moisture and sunlight.

When they are worn out, you can still use them in different ways like:

They can be placed as an additional layer with mulch for weed repelling.
They can prevent soil and seed erosion from the newly planted lawns.
They can protect the annual flowering small plants from frost as additional cover.

Conclusion

That was all about the amazing Reemay covers that do so much for you. We hope that now you will be able to decide whether to give them a try or not for your garden. We recommend you to go for them as they are going to be very cost-effective for the great utility they are.

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