The effect of different mulching on tomato development and yield

A study was conducted under field conditions to investigate the effects of different soil mulching on tomato development and yield for fresh consumption. Two experiments were conducted, one in the fall-winter and the other in the spring-summer. The following treatments were evaluated: soil mulching with brown plastic film (1); green plastic film (2); black plastic film (3); silver/black plastic film (4); white/black plastic film (5), yellow/brown plastic film (6); rice straw mulching (7); without mulching and with herbicide application (8); without mulching and with weed hoeing (9); and, without mulching and without weed control (10). Morphometric characteristics of tomato cv. Cordillera were measured at 10, 20, 30, and 40 days after transplanting (DAT). At harvest, yield and number of fruits, total and commercial, were measured, and then physicochemical analyzes were performed. The results reported that colored plastic film mulches affected soil temperature in both growing seasons, with higher temperatures for dark-colored mulching films, which may have compromised plant growth in the spring-summer season. In the fall-winter season, yellow and silver plastic film mulches improved tomato plant growth at 40 DAT, while green and silver plastic film mulches resulted in a 33 and 34 % increase in yield and the total number of fruits, respectively. Thus, it was possible to conclude that soil mulching materials have distinct effects on tomato development and yield, depending on the growing season.