2018 ASHS Annual Conference

High tunnels are a popular season extension tool used by growers to increase yield and produce quality of vegetables, fruits, and flowers. Intensive cropping in these spaces can lead to soil health problems, such as reduced organic matter and increased soil salinity,that may impact yield. Cover crops are a potential management tool to increase soil organic matter and, in the case of legumes, add nitrogen without importing excess salts. Cover crops can also help with weed control and can disrupt certain pest and disease cycles. While cover crops have many benefits, they can be challenging to include in high tunnel crop rotations because there is little time between cash crops and some aspects of management are more complicated than in the open field. This paper discusses management strategies, benefits, and challenges of cover crops in high tunnels and different rotational windows including fall-planted winter-killed, fall-planted overwintered, spring planted, summer planted, and inter-planted cover crops.