Black plastic under toms , or red

[barkeater]

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.

[chastom]

I have gained great insight from your comments. I will be trying a combination of clear plastic, black plastic and also newspaper mulch. I will see how each one works and report back on the successes and/or failures.

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by chastom

I have gained great insight from your comments. I will be trying a combination of clear plastic, black plastic and also newspaper mulch. I will see how each one works and report back on the successes and/or failures.

Just so we are clear. It is not newspaper mulch. It is mulch over newspaper or cardboard. Please don't shred the newspaper into mulch.

Lay a barrier of paper, at least 6 layers thick, flat on the ground and cover the paper with mulch, like grass clippings or hay, thick enough to hold it down when the Bermuda grass tries to push it up.

I know that's probably what you meant, but just to be sure.

[chastom]

Thanks Scott for clarifying the newspaper from mulch .
Now i have another idea ,what if i put down white on black plastic ,black side up ,when the heat hits i slide a layer of white side up under them ,just a thought ,it won't be easy if i have already caged them though?

[temora]

One of the universities did a study on colour mulch and found red plastic mulch was best for squash and strawberries. I tried that this year and it did very well, but under my one row of tomatoes I used IRT mulch. It's an olive colour that blocks weeds but still allows sunlight to penetrate and it did very well.

But as with all plastic mulch you do have to irrigate in hot summers because the soil did dry out very fast. In a normal year for me it would probably be okay without the irrigation.

[TightenUp]

Originally Posted by chastom

Thanks Scott for clarifying the newspaper from mulch .
Now i have another idea ,what if i put down white on black plastic ,black side up ,when the heat hits i slide a layer of white side up under them ,just a thought ,it won't be easy if i have already caged them though?

i use the permeable black mulch and when the temps get hot and soil warms i cover the black mulch with pine needles. i did this for the first time last season and was very happy

[kath]

Originally Posted by TightenUp

i use the permeable black mulch and when the temps get hot and soil warms i cover the black mulch with pine needles. i did this for the first time last season and was very happy

In the interest of safety, I must share that I tried this combination once and found it extrememely slippery to walk on in Sloggers when used in pathways. We have access to loads of white pine needles, but I hardly use them anymore because of this. Maybe it's just me...

In container gardening, some people have started using rocks as a mulch over the soil. I haven't tried it but believe the rocks should be large enough to easily remove when you want to work in the soil. I have planted tomatoes in the past through holes in the weed blocker fabric. I then placed flat walkway stones over the fabric right up against the main stem of the tomato plants. I can't claim it improved anything except appearance, but I can say it didn't seem to harm anything either. I suspect the stones and fabric did lower moisture evaporation from the areas around the plants and it certainly stopped weeds and grass from growing.

Ted

[remy]

I use the water permeable black landscape fabric. I've used it for years now.
Remy