Abstract
The effect of different-colored polyethylene mulches on quantity and spectra of reflected light, plant morphology, and root-knot disease was studied in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) grown in simulated planting beds. Tomato plants were inoculated with Meloidogyne incognita at initial populations (Pi) of 0, 1,000, 10,000, or 50,000 eggs/plant, and grown in a greenhouse for 50 days over white, red, or black mulch. Soil temperature was kept constant among the mulch treatments by placing an insulation barrier between the colored mulch and the soil surface. Soil temperature varied less than 0.5 degrees C between soil chambers at solar noon. Tomatoes grown over white mulch received more reflected photosynthetic light and had greater shoot weights (27%), root weights (32%), and leaf area (20%) than plants grown over black mulch. Plants grown over red mulch received a higher far-red-to-red ratio in the reflected light. Mulch color altered the plant's response to root-knot nematode infection by changing the distribution of mass in axillary shoots. At high Pi, axillary leaf area and leaf weight were greater in tomato grown over white mulch than when grown over red mulch. The root-gall index was lower for plants grown over white mulch than similar plants grown over red mulch.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record, shown for indexing and research. Copyright remains with the authors or the publisher. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 8
Claim · model-written summary
White mulch increased reflected photosynthetic light relative to black mulch.
- Taxon
- tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum)
Solanum lycopersicume1 - Treatment
- white mulche0
- Outcome
- reflected photosynthetic lighte0
- Direction
- moree0
- Comparator
- black mulche0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Tomatoes grown over white mulch received more reflected photosynthetic light and had greater shoot weights (27%), root weights (32%), and leaf area (20%) than plants grown over black mulch.”
e1“tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum)”
Claim · model-written summary
White mulch increased tomato shoot weights by 27% relative to black mulch.
- Taxon
- tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum)Solanum lycopersicume1
- Treatment
- white mulche0
- Outcome
- shoot weightse0
- Direction
- greatere0
- Value
- 27%e0
- Comparator
- black mulche0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Tomatoes grown over white mulch received more reflected photosynthetic light and had greater shoot weights (27%), root weights (32%), and leaf area (20%) than plants grown over black mulch.”
e1“tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum)”
Claim · model-written summary
White mulch increased tomato root weights by 32% relative to black mulch.
- Taxon
- tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum)Solanum lycopersicume1
- Treatment
- white mulche0
- Outcome
- root weightse0
- Direction
- greatere0
- Value
- 32%e0
- Comparator
- black mulche0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Tomatoes grown over white mulch received more reflected photosynthetic light and had greater shoot weights (27%), root weights (32%), and leaf area (20%) than plants grown over black mulch.”
e1“tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum)”
Claim · model-written summary
White mulch increased tomato leaf area by 20% relative to black mulch.
- Taxon
- tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum)Solanum lycopersicume1
- Treatment
- white mulche0
- Outcome
- leaf areae0
- Direction
- greatere0
- Value
- 20%e0
- Comparator
- black mulche0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Tomatoes grown over white mulch received more reflected photosynthetic light and had greater shoot weights (27%), root weights (32%), and leaf area (20%) than plants grown over black mulch.”
e1“tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum)”
Claim · model-written summary
Red mulch produced a higher reflected far-red-to-red light ratio.
- Taxon
- tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum)Solanum lycopersicume1
- Treatment
- red mulche0
- Outcome
- far-red-to-red ratioe0
- Direction
- highere0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Plants grown over red mulch received a higher far-red-to-red ratio in the reflected light.”
e1“tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum)”
Claim · model-written summary
Mulch color altered the distribution of mass in axillary shoots during root-knot nematode infection.
- Taxon
- tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum)Solanum lycopersicume1
- Treatment
- Mulch colore0
- Interactor
- root-knot nematode
_penetrates_a_tomato_root_-_USDA-ARS.jpg?width=60)
Meloidogynee0pest - Outcome
- distribution of mass in axillary shootse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
_penetrates_a_tomato_root_-_USDA-ARS.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e0“Mulch color altered the plant's response to root-knot nematode infection by changing the distribution of mass in axillary shoots.”
e1“tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum)”
Claim · model-written summary
At high initial nematode populations, white mulch increased axillary leaf area and weight relative to red mulch.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume0
- Treatment
- white mulche0
- Outcome
- axillary leaf area and leaf weighte0
- Direction
- greatere0
- Qualifier
- At high Pie0
- Comparator
- red mulche0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“At high Pi, axillary leaf area and leaf weight were greater in tomato grown over white mulch than when grown over red mulch.”
Claim · model-written summary
White mulch lowered root-gall index relative to red mulch.
- Taxon
- tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum)Solanum lycopersicume1
- Treatment
- white mulche0
- Outcome
- root-gall indexe0
- Direction
- lowere0
- Comparator
- red mulche0
Not reportedInteractor
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The root-gall index was lower for plants grown over white mulch than similar plants grown over red mulch.”
e1“tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum)”
The same questions in other papers
mulching · growth · Solanum lycopersicum (tomato)Results differ
61 papers in the same direction as this paper · 11 in the opposite direction
- no effect
- no effect
- negative
69 papers more in this group
See all 73 papers →mulching · physiology: photosynthesis · Solanum lycopersicum (tomato)Positive and negative results
2 papers in the same direction as this paper · 1 in the opposite direction
- no effect
- positive
- positive
Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.