1. E VALUATING B IODEGRADABLE M ULCHES FOR H IGH T UNNEL T OMATO P RODUCTION : A M ULTI - FACETED A PPROACH Jeremy S. Cowan Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Washington State University, WSU Mount Vernon NWREC, 16650 State Route 536, Mount Vernon, WA 98273

2. Evaluating Biodegradable Plastic Mulches for Use in High Tunnel Tomato Production  Effects of BDM on tomato yield and fruit quality  o Brix, Juice, Acidity, pH, Firmness, *Phenolics, *Lycopene  Visual ratings of BDM degradation and image analysis  Calibrate visual assessments w/ image analysis and compare with physical properties to determine efficacy for measuring loss of BDM integrity  Post-tillage degradation in the soil  Using photographic image analysis to measure number and size of mulch fragments in the soil every 3 months

3. Fruit Quality Assessments  No significant mulch effect in 2011 on any fruit quality parameter  No location effect on firmness or β-carotene

4. Table 1. Comparison of tomato yield in each field location (HT and OF) in Washington in 2011. Table 2. Comparison of tomato yield by mulch treatment in Washington in 2011

5. Rips, tears, and holes are counted twice monthly and a percent rating assigned based on exposed soil Mulch Visual Assessments

6. Table 3. Comparison of area under mulch degradation progress curve (AUDPC) values in Washington in 2011

7. Collecting mulch samples at “Final-Harvest” 25 Oct. 2011

8.  Digital imaging of mulch samples  Transformation to monochromatic images  Histogram of luminosity is obtained  Compare area under histogram curves of BDM samples at Times 1 – 3 with visual assessments and physical properties data to establish correlation coefficients Image-based Analysis of BDM Degradation

9. Collecting post-tillage soil samples at 10 Nov. 2011

10.  Soil sampling (known volume) every 3 months  Mulch fragments removed by hand and using sieves  Cleaned samples photographed  Use ImageJ (NIH) to count and measure mulch fragments to obtain average number and size per volume soil Image-based Analysis of Post-tillage Degradation

11. Current Status  Year 1 complete  Year 2  Photographing BDM samples  Measuring fruit total phenolics  Till-down sampling - ongoing  Year 3  Protocols for image analysis being refined  Planning field season

12. Many Thanks to:  Carol Miles  Karen Leonas, Debbie Inglis, Preston Andrews, & Jessica Goldberger  Jonathan Roozen, Babette Gunderson, Karen Hasenoehrl, and the MV Veg Hort Team and Grad Students  Hang Liu and the Leonas’ Lab  The rest of the SCRI Team

13. Lightbox

14. Image Analysis – IR Capture

15. Image Analysis – Cropped

16. Image Analysis – Isolate Red Channel

17. Image Analysis – Invert Colors

18. Image Analysis – Subtract Background

20. Image Analysis – Histogram

21. Till Down – Collecting mulch fragments

22. Till Down – Image Capture

23. Till Down – Convert to B&W (Binary)

24. Till Down – Analyze Particles