I've just finished digging this year's crop of potatoes. The yield
wasn't great and I put that down to the lack of rain here in Normandy. I
had too many seeds for my main bed and so I planted three rows on a
patch that I've kept fallow for this year and it's been covered with
black plastic since last autumn.

The first two rows produced much the same size and number of potatoes as
on my main bed, but the third row which was hard up against the black
plastic (I turned back only enough plastic to plant these three rows)
produced much larger potatoes and more of them.

Does anyone have any idea why this should have happened? Was it the
warmth of the plastic which made this last row do better? Was it,
perhaps, that the plastic kept the moisture in even though the ground
was covered since last autumn. It wouldn't have been due to the lack of
weeds as there were very few anywhere because of the drought.

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

David

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

On 16/08/2010 20:38, David Rance wrote:
I've just finished digging this year's crop of potatoes. The yield
wasn't great and I put that down to the lack of rain here in Normandy. I
had too many seeds for my main bed and so I planted three rows on a
patch that I've kept fallow for this year and it's been covered with
black plastic since last autumn.

The first two rows produced much the same size and number of potatoes as
on my main bed, but the third row which was hard up against the black
plastic (I turned back only enough plastic to plant these three rows)
produced much larger potatoes and more of them.

Does anyone have any idea why this should have happened? Was it the
warmth of the plastic which made this last row do better? Was it,
perhaps, that the plastic kept the moisture in even though the ground
was covered since last autumn. It wouldn't have been due to the lack of
weeds as there were very few anywhere because of the drought.

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

David


I just grew mine as normal in furrows, earthed up one time only. I grew
the variety "Daisy" this year as purchased from Point Verte. They have
proved to be highly productive. The best yield I've ever had. Many of
the potatoes have been huge - one being enough to make chips for four
people!

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 :-)

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

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

On 16/08/2010 22:14, David Rance wrote:
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


Mine have been having the watering/feed for several months now. Maybe
it's the duration and continuity without break that's important? My
first row of mangetout finished around a month ago, the new row isn't
doing too bad, not as good as the first did, but it is a different
variety anyway which may account for it. The freezer is already full of
runner beans and chopped courgettes now. No freezer space left!

The brassicas have done very badly this year though. They haven't been
receiving the benefit of the watering/feed and have had to make due with
the very occasional shower of rain. All the broccoli has bolted without
forming proper heads. The cauliflowers are tiny as are the cabbages.

The little navet turnips have done well, but they had water/feed too.
And this year no infestation of little grub holes which normally plagues
them.

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. 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.

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

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