Colored Plastic Mulch Effects on the Yield of Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. and Soil Temperature
Growing of lettuce with different colored plastic mulch was evaluated using two lettuce varieties, Looseleaf and Romaine. The experiment was laid out on Split Plot design following the Randomized Complete Block Design. In terms of yield, the Looseleaf variety had better performance compared with Romaine. The different colored plastic mulch affected the yield performance of the leaf lettuce. Yield of lettuce grown with the red plastic showed better response compared with the other colored plastic mulch. The soil temperature below the plastic mulch was significantly influenced by the color of the mulch. The red plastic mulch had the highest soil temperature recorded while the lowest soil temperature recorded was within the yellow plastic mulch. The soil temperature from the colored plastic mulch generally increased from 6am until 2pm and then declined.