Evidence of rhizobacteria changes associated with the increased growth response of vegetables grown in agrimulch systems.

ABSTRACT Results from three vegetable experiments using agriplastic mulch systems showed a positive relationship between the increase of rhizobacteria dynamics and the increased growth response (IGR) of vegetables grown on black plastic (BM) and clear plastic (CM) mulches with or without row covers during early spring and summer. In the first experiment, no significant differences were observed for IGR of ‘Flora-dade’ tomatoes grown on bare soil following soil solarization (SBS) and nonsolarized bare soil (BS) plus BM. However, tomatoes grown on SBS, BM and BM mulched SBS plus Reemay spunbonded polyester row cover treatment showed a greater IGR compared to the non-row cover treatments. In the second experiment, plots containing ‘Crimson Sweet’ watermelons grown on CM had higher soil temperature and IGR than those grown with BM with and without VisPore row cover. When TU-82-155 swectpotato cultivar was double cropped on CM and BM plots following the removal of mulching films, sweetpotatoes showed improved ...