Black plastic under toms , or red

barkeater · January 15, 2013

I had a lot of experience with plastic mulches for tomatoes beginning in the early 80's in NJ. If you can get it, even that far north I found that, except for the early determinate crop, the best plastic to use was white on black. It was thicker than plain black plastic, blocked the weeds (especially nutsedge!) better, held moisture in better, and kept the soil from getting too hot.

Of course without drip lines underneath, an extended drought will dry out the soil under any nonpermeable plastic mulch, so beware in drought-prone areas.

January 15, 2013	#16
barkeater Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: NE Kingdom, VT - Zone 3b Posts: 1,439	I had a lot of experience with plastic mulches for tomatoes beginning in the early 80's in NJ. If you can get it, even that far north I found that, except for the early determinate crop, the best plastic to use was white on black. It was thicker than plain black plastic, blocked the weeds (especially nutsedge!) better, held moisture in better, and kept the soil from getting too hot. Of course without drip lines underneath, an extended drought will dry out the soil under any nonpermeable plastic mulch, so beware in drought-prone areas. __________________ barkeater Last edited by barkeater; January 15, 2013 at 11:59 AM.