Colored plastic mulches influence cucumber beetle populations, vine growth, and yield of watermelon

Abstract

Colored plastic mulches were evaluated for their effect on the production of a triploid ('Honeyheart') and a diploid ('Sangria') watermelon cultivar during the spring growing season. Colored mulches affected cucumber beetle populations; the SRM-Red (Selective Reflective Mulch) and yellow plastic mulch plots had among the highest cucumber beetle populations recorded in both cultivars while the silver-reflective and the silver-on-black plastic mulches had among the lowest. In general, most mulched plots had longer vines than the bare-ground treatment, with few differences in vine length among treatments by 4 weeks. There were no differences among mulch treatments in first and total 'Honeyheart' harvest while the IRT-100 (infrared transmitting; green), PST (photosynthetic reduced transmitting), and silver-on-black plastic mulches had the highest first 'Sangria' harvest and among the highest total 'Sangria' harvest. Plants in plastic mulch treatments had higher yields as a result of higher fruit number per area. Fruit weight, length, and diameter and total soluble solids for both cultivars were not affected by colored plastic mulch treatments.