Effects of dark and light mulches on quantitative and qualitative traits of three tomato cultivars

To evaluate the effect of light and dark mulches on quantitative and qualitative traits of three tomato cultivars, a factorial experiment was conducted in Kahnooj, Iran, in 2010 based on a randomized complete block design with four replications. The factors included three cultivars (Falat, Chef and Kalji) and three mulch treatments (light, dark and no-mulch). The results showed that light mulch produced the highest early fruit yield (691.50 g.plant-1) and total yield (2010 g.plant-1), and control treatment (no-mulch) had the lowest early fruit yield (287.60 g.plant-1) and total yield (980.40 g.plant-1). The cultivars Chef and Kalji had the highest and lowest early fruit yields (811.2 and 163.5 g.plant-1), respectively. In addition, dark and light plastic mulches significantly impacted the control of broomrape disease. It is recommended to use light and dark mulches in order to increase early fruit yield and total yield of tomato and suppress broomrape.