BACKGROUND: Plastic mulches widely used in raised-bed culture mainly to conserve water, control weeds and raise soil temperature. The most widely used plastic mulch colour is black. Reflective red and far-red light can affect on growth and yield of various vegetable crops. Objectives of this study were to investigate the characteristics of reflective light of black and red plastic mulches, and to evaluate the reflective red and far-red light on the quality characteristics and yield of the

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... al melon (Cucumis. Melo L.) and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.). METHODS AND RESULTS: Oriental melon and tomato were cultivated over the reflective red and black plastic mulches in plastic house. Reflected red and far-red light over the red plastic mulch were 2.6 times higher than those of black plastic mulch. Red to F-Red ratio of black plastic mulch, red plastic mulch and sunlight were 1.14, 0.93 and 1.16 respectively. Intensity of reflected red and far-red light over red plastic mulch were highest at surface height of 30 cm. The higher the height of the surface decrease the intensity of far-red light. Accordingly, Red to F-Red ratio were increased. Reflective red plastic mulch increased the weight of fruit and content of sugar in Oriental melon and tomato. CONCLUSION(s): Yield of Oriental melon over reflective red plastic mulch was higher than that of black plastic mulch. These results suggested that reflected red and far-red light over the red plastic mulch affected allocation of photosynthate in growing Oriental melon.