This year, I am trying the red plastic "tomato mulch" to see if this helps my tomatoes grow more quickly. The red light wavelengths in the plastic stimulate the growth of tomato plants through a reaction with a specific pigment in the tomato plants (phytochrome). This seems to be true, but it also seems to be dependent on the amount of sunlight and maybe even temperature - something very much out of our control.
Whether red mulch means the end of late season green tomatoes remains to be seen. However, colored mulches in general appear to do a better job of warming the soil than black plastic, which at least gives your plants a head start.
I'll report back at the end of the season to see if this worked!
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