A present study was conducted by cultivating tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum 'Provence') using varied inorganic mulching to investigate soil hydrothermal environment and tomato characters under unheated greenhouse cultivation in the cold zone of China.
A total of 6 different treatments were adopted: no mulching (control), white film mulching (white film), black film mulching (black film), white film with hole mulching (white hole), the black film with hole mulching (black hole), and snakeskin bag mulching (snakeskin). Inorganic mulching treatment significantly improved soil temperature and moisture, water use efficiency, tomato yield, and reduced soil water consumption.
There was no significant difference observed in the variation of daily mean soil temperature between different mulching treatments, and the variation was in the range of 1.95–2.20 °C, which was significantly lower compared with the control (3.42 °C). The daily mean soil moisture varied significantly after different mulching treatments, with the highest level achieved by snake skin (23.37%), followed by black hole (22.55%), white hole (22.08%), white film (21.48%), black film (20.12%), and control (18.78%) in descending order. According to the research results, plastic-hole mulching, which includes white hole and black hole treatments, performed better in maintaining soil temperature and moisture.
Dai, Y., Zhang, P., Chao, J. et al. Effects of inorganic mulching on soil hydrothermal environment and tomato characters in the presence of unheated greenhouse cultivation. Sci Rep 14, 4337 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-54896-y