Potatoes under plastic?

[snakeshack]

ah but Geoff only had to deal with those retro 80's slugs not the "hard as nails knife wielding " modern slugs of today!
seriously though the plastic cuts out the light and supresses weeds,forming a slug resort in the process,but how does the water permeate the plastic and does it not get too hot and dry for slugs under there.
I am going to try 1st and 2nd earlies in stacks of tyres this year as they are easy to earth up......just add another tyre,they warm up quickly in the sun and can go on top of the plastic covering weedy ground
the used compost will be dug in underneath at end of season and the area converted to a raised bed.tyres are free!
ask at your local tyre shop they have to pay for removal.

[tricky]

welcome andrew someone from me own county greatsuff
great idea lynda never thought of doing that ,im going to now. thanks for the tip
as for the copper theory ,im convinced ,it dont work

[allotmentlady]

now don't laugh at me but i know a guy that swears by using copper pipe round his veg bed. He says the slugs won't cross over them.

:dlolololololololol:d

[lynda66]

i have been thinking ...... yup i do sometimes ........ get a piece of copper pipe ........ get some mains wire with a plug on the end ......... strip the live wire, stick it down the pipe.... plug in the plug ....... and electrocute the buggers

my mind works in mysterious ways

[SlugLobber]

You first, Lynda!

I'd be worried about 'sweating' going on under plastic, if any new spuds grew too close to it.

I tried the copper pipe on the soil and it didn't work for me. I think my slugs are masochists!

[oldie]

Last year I put down a layer of cardboard and covered that with black plastic. used a crowbar to punch holes through it and popped a spud into each hole and covered them with compost. A few of my second earlies had slug damage, the maincrop (Cara) had none. I did however loose 90% of my cabbages to slugs. I used this method to help clear a very weedy patch of ground that had not been cultivated for many years. The result was a much cleaner patch and the weeds which did return were easy do deal with.
Edit: I forgot to say that the plastic I used came from ASDA - cheap but it has small perforations every few cm. which does let some water through

[Paulottie]

They're all wrong!!!...don't listen to them Andrew!

I plant through Mypex weed membrane with a bulb planter. It is an excellent method of ground clearance. Although with a slightly lower yield.... you are left with a much reduced weed problem. I have grown many other crops through it too and after two or three years I can revert to normal cultivation.....can't recommend the method enough.

It can work with dpm but difficult without seep hoses etc. I'd advice investing in quality permeable plastic weave....i have some 8 years old that I still use....I find the pegs more convenient than digging the edges in too

I have no more problem with slugs than earthing up.... you could use nematodes or slug-pellets under the plastic and certainly collect up the slugs /snails under the plastic on removal( I often use dustbin lid method for mollusc collection too).....but the copper Idea is pointless as it is the keel slugs that do the damage to spuds and they burrow in the soil.

[krazy_krok]

i read an article about pioneering with potatoes by andy Cleverly. He put down a layer of newspaper wetted and covered with manure, Set out his tatties and covered with silage sheet. As the tatties grew they'll lift the silage so you can cut holes for the shoots. This is a gound clearing technique to tackle and clear weedy ground, he said you'd get a decent yield but not as good as eathing up.

[lynda66]

You first, Lynda!

I'd be worried about 'sweating' going on under plastic, if any new spuds grew too close to it.

I tried the copper pipe on the soil and it didn't work for me. I think my slugs are masochists!

i'm gonna try it with the herons this year ....... net over the pond is so messy ..... don't think they'll come back after electrocution

[King Carrot]

wider like this? YouTube - Garden Pest Update: Slug vs Copper

If I get time this spring/summer I will set up a few experiments with copper and slugs - I would deffo only go on results obtained at night as slugs are not really in their natural element during the daylight hours (when these were filmed - camera shy perhaps ) - they'd probably panic a bit and cross pretty much anything to get to shelter just as we'd all probably jump out a window of a tall building if it was on fire!

Slugs are my biggest problem by far and just maybe, I have too much time on my hands right now to think about them

Getting back to this thread, Paulottie is quite correct about the keel slugs, to control them around potatoes I use soot (local method) and nematodes, there’s also varieties of spuds which slugs supposedly don't like to eat so much - generally the reds (but not always!)

cheers,

KC

[andrew1973]

Wow! Ive been blown away by the response from my first post - thankyou. I think I will set up a little experiment & see what happens with some spare dpm. I do agree with Paulottie in using weed-membrane to plant through - I have awful horse-tail to compete with & this keeps it at bay with no detriment to my crops or excessive slug population. I know this thread has been a hate campaign about slugs...but horsetail, don't get me started!!!!

[Paulottie]

'Horses A*se'...as we like to know it here...Its got a waxy coating so you need to rub it between two bricks before spraying..normally bags and laccy band meathod.

Difficult stuff to shift... but not much leaf surface...so staving it of light is the best way.

[Snadger]

'Horses A*se'...as we like to know it here...Its got a waxy coating so you need to rub it between two bricks before spraying..normally bags and laccy band meathod.

Difficult stuff to shift... but not much leaf surface...so staving it of light is the best way.

Can't be bothered to check up............but I'm sure you can use the tops infused in water as a fungicide or even a fertiliser? The depth this stuffs roots goes it's bound to be bringing up some useful nutrients? You can also use it instead of a brillo pad to clean pans as it has a high silica content methinks!

[lottie dolly]

we have loads of the stuff,you learn to live with it,latter part of last year i started nipping of the green bits,and put them in my evil brew tub,along with nettles,rhubarb leaves and garlic,it still had a stink to it last week,but it did seem to help as regards the cabbage whites,but did nothing for the grey aphids,

[maytreefrannie]

Last year I put down a layer of cardboard and covered that with black plastic. used a crowbar to punch holes through it and popped a spud into each hole and covered them with compost. A few of my second earlies had slug damage, the maincrop (Cara) had none. I did however loose 90% of my cabbages to slugs. I used this method to help clear a very weedy patch of ground that had not been cultivated for many years. The result was a much cleaner patch and the weeds which did return were easy do deal with.
Edit: I forgot to say that the plastic I used came from ASDA - cheap but it has small perforations every few cm. which does let some water through

Do you mean - you punched a hole through both plastic and cardboard and set the potatoes into the earth underneath. Also, when they grew, did the green parts come through the plastic while the potatoes kept growing underneath, with no earthing up?

Also, Paulottie said -

I plant through Mypex weed membrane with a bulb planter. It is an excellent method of ground clearance. Although with a slightly lower yield.... you are left with a much reduced weed problem. I have grown many other crops through it too and after two or three years I can revert to normal cultivation.....can't recommend the method enough.

It can work with dpm but difficult without seep hoses etc. I'd advice investing in quality permeable plastic weave....i have some 8 years old that I still use....I find the pegs more convenient than digging the edges in too


Sorry, don't know how to do multiple quotes but again, Paulottie, did you just grow them under the weed block membrane and not earth them up? Did you plant them in the ground or just lay them on the ground?

Also what's dpm? And I'm guessing seep hoses are somehow set into the ground?

Sorry if all this sounds thick!