Was it red plastic or listed as IR as in Infra red?

Byron,
It was the red plastic mulch I purchased from the Organic Gardner catalog, don't remember since I bought it last year and didnt use it until this year. Sorry.
Stella

Hi Stella:

ya know, I'm not too impressed with my red plastic experiment this year, either. Unfortunately, it was a non-typical year for me in the garden, though, since we had quite a hard(and unexpected) frost here on July 1, and it nipped up my tomato plants pretty good. I guess I'll roll up my plastic and try it again next year, and hope for better results. I just bought my plastic from Burpee.

In addition to not helping in the early ripening, weeds love growing under the plastic.

I also tried the red plastic, (last year) With not much going for it, I tried the new mulch with the reflective side. Not much improvement there either Of course the latter was supposed to keep pests at bay and I never have much of a problem with tomatoes anyway.

I can't say that my red plastic was a failure when compared to black plastic mulch. The ground did appear to heat up a little quicker (could be due to the weather though). I plan to use again next year especially with Early Goliath tomato variety.

Joe

Good Morning! Good to hear someones tried the red plastic . We've debated it and after this years tomato harvest, I'm glad we didn't. I guess we'll stick with newspaper and pinestraw as mulch. (I know it looks better than red plastic, UGH!) LISA

Jord,
Know what you mean it looks terrible and most of my tomatoes are still green while last year with the newspaper mulch I had more tomatoes than I knew what to do with. This year the only big crop of tomatoes were cherry tomatoes that were grown in an area without the red plastic.
Thanks to all for your comments.
I guess you live and learn
Stella/NY

On plastic mulch:

"Plasticulture is the study of the use of plastics in agriculture. Covering mulch with wide strips of black plastic to raise soil temperature and inhibit weed growth is a widely accepted practiceÃAmericans use about 200 million pounds of plastic mulch each year. Recent studies suggest that, although black plastic mulch provides marked benefits, other colors may offer even greater yields. Professor Orzolek has shown that most plants have a particular, and sometimes peculiar, color preference: ÃTomatoes are partial to red, potatoes favor pale blue or white, and turnips donÃt think orange is too bad.Ã Internal pigments, called phytochromes, serve as chemical Ãeyes.Ã By reacting to different spectra of light, they signal the plant how best to use its resources. Some colors promote root growth, and others can increase fruit and vegetable yields by as much as 30 percent. The Center for Plasticulture is at the very forefront of colored-mulch research, but a few of the lessons theyÃve learned can even be applied to a small backyard garden. Some of the colors are still in experimental trials, but rolls of red polyethylene mulch covering, suitable for tomatoes and strawberries, are available from major garden-supply companies."

American Society for Plasticulture