Potatoes Through Plastic

[andrewo]

Hi All,
Been busy with work - apologies for not being here - quick question, been reading an RHS book on Veg, really a good book, and they advise planting potatoes through plastic, no earthing up and I want to know if anyone has tried this? I'm going to try half and half and tell you the results but I'd be interested in if people who have done this - was it any good? How do you water?

[WiZeR]

i have not done it before but will be this year because of my back. Watering maybe a problem.

[Protea]

You could solve the watering issue by laying a leaky hose or drip tape underneath the plastic, but this would only work if you have somewhere to plug a hose in!

Alternatively the porous black ground gover (fabric material rather than the plastic stuff) would work as well as plastic. I planted my brassicas through this last year and it was ok - certainly solved the weed problem anyway! You could lay it over the soil and when you see foliage pushing it up, cut a slit in the fabric and ease the stems through.

In fact - i think i might try this on some of my potatoes this year - i've stil got some ground cover left!

p.s. i got my ground cover dirt cheap from B&Q last year - they had a whole bin of old rolls of the stuff at half price - labels were damaged and some had lost outer plastic packaging, but the product was in perfect condition!

[roitelet]

I've never tried growing tatties under plastic so I will be interested in the results.
A long time ago this was a question on Gardeners Question Time and if I remember correctly the answer was that it was possible but you ran the risk of the tatties being half cooked because of the heat that builds up under the plastic

[Snadger]

Slugs could be a big problem as they love hiding in dark damp places!

[TPeers]

You also need to watch out that the spuds don't go green - the tubers tend to form right at the surface under the fabric and just enough light can get through!

Consider either a double layer of fabric or some form of mulch to exclude the light.

[Earthbabe]

I don't know about the spuds getting cooked. All the really early british grown earlies are grown under plastic (at least to start) so where's the problem.

I'm going for membrane and a mulch this year. Last year we cut a slit in the membrane and planted through it. The weed count was reduced but not sufficiently and we still got some green pots.

[Fezinio]

I have been watching the Allotment series religiously lately and the guy on there swears by it.

He reckons he's a lazy old git and won't dig a thing.

Seems to get decent results too

[Egluntine]

There are some potato planters on offer in the latest GYO mag...£13.99 +p&p for 3...I think I'll give them a try.....they are supposed to be slug resistant.

[Fezinio]

I saw them potato sacks in our local garden centre and was interested in them however they are not that big.

But I did also see some similar type bags in Woollies which were over twice the size for £1.99 each. I got three of them and got the OH to put some ringlets in them for drainage and bobs your uncle.

I got over twice the capacity at less than half the cost

[Egluntine]

Ooh...what were the Woolies bags called.....have to go into city centre next week...might get some and save myself a few quid.

Ta for that.