According to the Territorial Seed Co. (which catalog also offers red plastic mulch--but no holes in theirs so I had to punch my own....), research by USDA and Clemson U. showed an increase in production of from 12-20% in early tomatoes compared to black mulch. Technically known as SRM-Red mulch. Strawberries apparently benefit also. I live in a very difficult area for tomatoes, beset by summer marine fog, and I have to say that the red mulch didn't do much for me--except to grow bumper crops of oxalis underneath. What does help (not surprisingly) is finding the warmest spot in my yard, using black plastic to warm the soil and carefully trimming off diseased leaves as soon as I spot them--oh, and choosing very "early" varieties.

I just got a Cub Cadet CC550SP and it is a great mower. My yard looks much better after one cut. The suction on this mower is outstanding when using the bag. It's amazingly quiet and its the easiest thing to start. Starts on first pull EVERY TIME! Did not or would not ever buy from the big box stores. I did some comparison shopping and even though the models had same numbers the mowers had small differences. First being the wheels. Home depots mowers had these narrow hard plastic wheels and the one I got had 2" wide heavy duty wheels. At box store your new mower is sure to have loose bolts on it somewhere. At the store I bought mine, DEWYNNS in San Antonio Texas, they set up my new mower serviced it and step by step showed me all the features. Try finding someone at a box store who could even find where the lawnmowers are. In closing, don't rush out to lowest or home depot to try and save money. I spent the same amount of money at a store that just sells lawn equipment and the service was outstanding. I've bought a couple pieces of lawn equipment there and will only go there in the future.

If your going to use a herbiced I would spot spray only. (read the label carefully) Proper management practices that encourage a dense, thriving turf are the best method of weed control. Healthy turf shades the soil so sunlight can't reach weed seeds ready to germinate. A thick turf also minimizes the physical space available for weeds to become established. There are several management practices that will promote a healthy, dense grass. If turf is over-or under-watered, over-or under-fertilized, or mowed too low or too infrequently, the turf is weakened and cannot compete with weeds. Damaged areas resulting from using unsharpened mowers increase time needed for turf recovery, allowing for weed invasion. It is very important to understand that weeds don't create a void, they fill a void. Mulch Mow High 4+" with a sharp, balanced blade Water deeply and infrequently with 3/4-1" water. (no more than once a week in summer) What variety of grass do you have? When was the last time you fertilized?

Non-mulching decks were designed for one thing - throwing clippings out the discharge. They would bag if a chute were placed over the discharge port. In order to mulch, the discharge port must be closed, and the deck must be of a certain design so the clippings are cut and re-cut. Usually it is not possible to get satisfactory results by 'converting' an older design to mulching. You would have to fabricate a blocking plug for the discharge port, and there is no 'fix' for the wrong type of deck. The greatest problem may be power. 3.5 HP was the norm for many years and it was adequate for discharging and bagging. When mulching mowers started selling, power started increasing, because mulching takes twice the power. If your mower doesn't have at least 5 HP and an engine in excellent condition, it may not be able to 'cut it' regardless of modifications you make to the mower. Bottom line, even with all the problems above, if you put a mulching blade on your mower and manage to block off the discharge, it probably will mulch to some extent. After all, it would be cheap to find out.