On Mon, 16 Aug 2010, David in Normandy wrote:

Has anyone here tried growing potatoes under black plastic? If so, did
you find your yield better than usual?

I think the yield would have been poor had I not been watering them
though. Not a lot of water though. I've been experimenting this year
using pee as a liquid fertiliser and mixing it around 1 part pee to 20
parts rain-butt water. Each row of potatoes had a watering/feed once a
week approximately of a single 10 litre watering can full per around 20
plants. The results have been astonishing.

The same water/pee mix has also worked wonders on the courgettes,
mangetout and runner beans. Overwhelmed with produce!

Hmm well, when I got here a fortnight ago I tried doing the same thing.
I can't say that I've noticed any great improvement. The mangetout peas
are not flourishing at all well and there are no flowers on them (last
year they were over and done with before I could get back!). The french
beans are growing very well with plenty of flowers but the beans are
growing but very slowly. Runner beans have started cropping but the
plants do look a bit straggly.

So the answer is simple - don't buy expensive fertiliser - buy wine
instead and make your own :-)

Ah, that's where I went wrong! I drank cider! But I did dilute the pee
pretty well!

David

--
David Rance
writing from Le Mesnil Villement, Calvados, France