Red Plastic Mulch

Wulfette emailed me an article about red mulch:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3741/is_n10_v45/ai_20095593/

Has anyone tried using red plastic mulch for their tomatoes?

Ed

Interesting article. I've been looking for the red plastic so I can do my own experiment. I'd like to try it on a couple of my plants just to see if there is any difference in pounds of tomatoes produced per plant. If enough folks on here experiment with this, maybe we can decided for ourselves if this is worth doing.

I just don't like the idea of my veggies being grown in or with anything plastic. I'm too paranoid about the plastic leeching into the soil and then into my veggies. If your soil is healthy, then your plants should be healthy and not fall victim to "bad" pests, so I'd work on getting my soil healthy.

LOL... Well all of mine are in black plastic pots, so I'm guessing that a bit more won't harm.

I tried it a few years ago and didn't notice any difference one way or another.

Hmmm, maybe just another industry trick to suck more money out of our pockets then.

Since it wards off nematodes, I am wondering if it would also make the beneficial nematodes avoid the area?

I just thought I'd point out that the article is almost 12 years old. In any case, my feeling on this is that if red mulch makes such a major difference in controlling root knot nematodes, everyone would be doing it by now. Everyone, meaning all (or the vast majority of) commercial growers and experienced home tomato growers who have problems with RKN in their soil. And that hasn't happened - the quest for truly effective methods to combat RKN continues**. By effective, I mean magic bullet as in wow, my problems are solved, thank goodness for red mulch (!), no need to look any further, etc.

(**Edit/add - btw, use of methyl bromide was "banned" [phased out]since that article. However, in practice some commercial growers can and do still occasionally use it by applying for a critical use exemption.)

I have researched the subject a fair amount as I have RKN in my soil and usually grow anywhere from 150-200 or so tomato plants a year, in addition to some other 'tode susceptible crops. From what I have gleaned, red mulch is one possible method of many that may help, but is definitely not "the answer."

Of course, people have continued to discuss, trial, and debate the possible benefits of red plastic mulch since the article was written, both for the suppression of RKN and also for general increased production. Some context is important here - the context of how it may be used in a commercial growing situation vs. what home gardeners usually do in practice.

Large scale commercial growers usually grow determinate varieties, specifically dets that are more on the compact side (some dets can get 4-5 ft tall). This is for ease of harvest, especially if there is any harvesting equipment involved. Also, there will tend to be more space between their rows than most home gardeners have. Adding to that - the varieties they grow are smaller and don't shade the immediate area surrounding the plants as much as the mix of large indets and maybe some dets that many home gardeners tend to grow. So the red mulch is more exposed in the growing area and can better reflect the wavelengths of light the article refers to. In addition, most of these types of studies tend to be done using similar varieties and growing practices that the commercial growers do.

In summary, results are mixed for both RKN suppression and also general increase in productivity in different situations and trials, and so in practice, it may not be very helpful to the home gardener. I don't want to discourage anyone from experimenting for themselves, though. :-)

This message was edited May 1, 2009 10:52 PM