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!

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!

Mine have been having the watering/feed for several months now. Maybe
it's the duration and continuity without break that's important?

Yes, I think you're right. I think I'm expecting a quick fix!

The lawns are overrun with mice of some sort. My French neighbour
called them "mulot" some sort of field mouse. There are literally
hundreds of holes everywhere. A real plague.

Those are voles. We've got them, too. Fortunately we've brought the cats
over this time and they are doing their best to catch them. We had a
plague of them about fifteen years ago as well and they ate the roots of
our fruit trees. Some trees didn't survive. On that occasion I tried
drowning them out by pumping water out of the well and straight into one
of their holes. Didn't work!

They've eaten most of the daffodil and tulip bulbs and the lucifers
have largely been wiped out too - just pull a sad looking stem and it
comes straight out of the ground, no roots. They've infiltrated the veg
plot now and seem to be eating the potatoes so I'd better get the rest
lifted soon.

Some of my potatoes were affected that way which is why I decided to
lift them as soon as possible.

David

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