Although plastic mulch produced the highest soil temperatures, it produced the lowest yields compared to the organic mulch treatments for low and high input levels. Disease ratings were taken on September 15, 2000. Predominant diseases present on foliage and fruit were early blight, septoria leaf spot, canker, rhizoctonia soil rot, and bacterial speck. Plants in plots with wheat straw mulch had fewer septoria leaf spots compared to landscape bark. Bare ground controls and shredded newspaper plots showed less early blight symptoms compared to plots with landscape bark mulch and wheat straw.
Early blight is known to be more severe in low N soils.
In an attempt to reduce chemical inputs for tomato production, the effects of organic mulching materials, especially with reduced chemical inputs may be a viable option for small-acreage vegetable growers. 241.53 Table 2. Black polyethylene mulch doubled yield of fresh-market field tomatoes. J.R. Teasdale, R. Korcak, D.J. Chitwood, and R.N. Huettel. Ashworth, S. and H. Harrison.