What are the different colors of plastic mulch?
Originally, plastic mulches were primarily black, clear, and white. Clear produces the most heat, but weeds grow like crazy. White keeps the soil cool. Black warms the soil and blocks weed growth. Additional colors have now been introduced such as red, blue, yellow, gray, orange, brown, olive or green, and silver or silver on black. What was the reasoning behind the development of different colors? Various colors affect the surface temperature of the mulch and the underlying soil temperature differently. They also provide different degrees of insect and weed control. What are the primary advantages of these colors and what plants benefit most? RED Advantages: Tomato yields as much as 20% higher than with black plastic. Soil warming of 4 to 6 degrees. Almost total weed control. Reduction of soil moisture evaporation. Plants: Tomatoes, Eggplant, Onion, Potato. GREEN Advantages: Generates almost as much heat as clear mulch and suppresses weeds like black mulch. Earlier and higher yields t
