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| I have all heirloom tomatoes which were for the most part started from seed from last years tomatoes. I live in the lower Napa valley with foggy mornings often. I am considering trying the red film that is offered in some garden catalogs next year. It's the middle of August and only a few tomatoes have ripened and wonder if anyone has experience using this satisfactorily. The vines are heavy with green fruit! thanks Penny |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| IT works. But not if you're dealing with one or several plants. Check out the Penn State Plasticulture site. |
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| It may help in certain situations but in all the previous discussions here about it (linked one of them below) most seem to feel that the benefits are minimal and don't justify the cost. I only tried it over 2 seasons and couldn't note any improvement but my conditions are very different than yours. Only way to know if it can be of benefit to you is to give it a try. But I wouldn't invest a great deal in it without a limited trial first. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Red plastic mulch discussion
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| Here is my experience. After having bad tomato harvests the last several year, I decided to go with a plastic mulch... and IRT plastic mulch. I placed IRT in 2 raised beds and left 1 without. The tomatoes planted in the raised bed with IRT grew bigger than the tomatoes in the 3rd bed without IRT. There was only 1 common tomato plant between a bed with and a bed without IRT. The Cherokee Purple in the bed with IRT grew bigger and my harvest was earlier than the bed without. The total amount of tomatoes to be harvested appears to be the same... I was just able to start harvesting earlier using IRT. I will use it again next year and see how it does. |
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| What does the Red Plastic Film do? We know plastics, in general of any color, can prevent evaporation of the moisture under it. Then , you add sunshine on it, then it can warm up the soil faster than it cools off. So probaably there is a net gain. Black or gray Plastics have an added advantage, as they absorb more and reflect less heat (in the form of radiation, not from convection or conduction). Yet, clear plastic might even be better than black under sunshine, (the solar heat directly and mostly heats the soil), rather than the plastic itself. What about RED plastic ? To me, the color of plastic in ground covering make very little difference. Unless some one studies them scientifically side by side in a laboratory designed environment and reports the finding. Untill then I will remain neutral on the color issue. |
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| I like the idea of plastic to warm the soil early in the season, to prevent weeds, to hold in the moisture, and to (hopefully) prevent the problem of splashing "disease spores" from the soil up onto the leaves. This year, I used some very thin black plastic that may have come from Gardener's Supply years ago. It was so thin that weeds grew underneath it. I inserted newspaper under the soil as a weed barrier and just realized that doing that probably interfered with soil warming. I was all set to buy some red plastic, but I cannot see that it would make a lot of difference. The reviews that I read say that it's very thin. The study that I found didn't show a lot of difference in total harvest between black plastic and red, so I think I'll buy some thicker black plastic for the next growing season. Linda |
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| Yeah, I think the "red" part is mostly snake oil. Any kind of dark plastic to prevent weeds and/or warm the soil, serves the purpose. I tried red plastic many years ago hoping that the red would reflect onto the tomatoes and somehow the tomatoes would absorb the red so they'd ripen faster :-) Living in Z4 at the time I tried everything. |
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| "What about RED plastic ? according to the principles of optical physics, it should absorb all other wave lengths and just reflect the RED. So, here, the idea must be that RED wave length is BAD or harmful to plants ? " Ummm, did you mean to say that the RED wave length is GOOD or beneficial to plants? Why would anyone put down red plastic if they thought it was bad or harmful to their plants? Just wondering.... Betsy |
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| Some wavelengths are bad/repellent to insects. Maybe that is adding to the confusion? Linda |
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| I'm already using black plastic to keep the soil warm and retain water. I have read the various mixed results with the red plastic. I want to keep the actual plants warmer so maybe what I really need are reflectors with shiny surfaces to shine back on to the tomatoes. I don't want more as once they get ripe I have tons of fruit but I would like them to start earlier bearing fruit. They set fruit early but it seems to take forever for the tomatoes to turn red. Thanks for the replies to the red plastic question. Penny |
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| Seysonn: CLEAR plastic is probably not a good choice since it's actually used to solarize soil. One would probably "cook" the roots. Kevin |
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- Posted by bulldinkie pa (My Page) on Mon, Aug 19, 13 at 15:08
| I used it for first time this year they got a customer here.My tomatoe plants got huge and the tomatoes were huge.I bet at least 1/2lb or more each and good.In one picking I got like 11or12that big off 2 plants.My cherry tomato gave hundreds.I gave a bucket to sons family I had a bucket and they need picked again.Im a believer. |
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| Ummm, did you mean to say that the RED wave length is GOOD or beneficial to plants? Why would anyone put down red plastic if they thought it was bad or harmful to their plants? ************************************* Same "Difference !!"
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| I don't think it is the same difference, because the whole idea with the red mulch is specifically about reflection: "Developed by the USDA & Clemson Univ., this 1.0 mil thick, durable red plastic film reflects far-red wavelengths into the plant's canopy, triggering photosynthesis and stimulating rapid growth and development." That particular statement is from Johnny's Selected Seeds page where they sell the red plastic mulch. Betsy |
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| " That particular statement is from Johnny's Selected Seeds page where they sell the red plastic mulch. Betsy |
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