Allotments 4 All
Allotment Stuff => The Basics => Topic started by: Digeroo on February 25, 2016, 10:42:42
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Decided I need to buy some.
I go on holiday in May and by the time I get back the weeds have really shot ahead. Last year I was plagued by parsnips which had shot up to 5 feet high.
So decided the answer is black fabric.
The question is what is the best width to have. 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4 Metres. I am thinking 2 x 50. But may be 1m wide strips for beds with paths between would be better, so then 1x100. The latter is slightly cheaper as it is currently on special offer. With 1 meter I could put a strip of manure down between the rows.
LAst year I bought a roll of blue scaffolding netting, so this year it is black plastic.
Would very much welcome comments about what you do with black plastic.
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Its good for the kind of job where low (no) maintenance is needed, such as amenity plantings in public places,so long as heavily mulched to hold in place ,with a non growing media such as bark chips or slate pennies.
It would be less suitable in cultivated areas because you will keep finding the edges, being unsightly and a trip hazard. If you weight down the edges with soil or manure, you will find that weeds will not only grow on and through from the top but be difficult to remove without tearing the whole mat up.
If you decide to do it, try and source the heavier type such as may be used by professional landscapers.
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I am hoping to lay it just before I am away so tripping will not be a problem.
I used to have a very organised family next to me. They laid it down, and then gradually rolled it up, planting behind the roll as they went. They held it down with stones, and planks of wood. They had two trips of 4 meters which more or less covered their plot. Must have cost a fortune. But it was also difficult to handle and took several people to do the rolling.
I do not think it is any better than hoeing, it is just while I am away their will be no hoeing done and after 2.5 weeks you just cannot believe just how fast things can grown. I do not tend to get enough time to hoe the entire plot just before I go away.
I am starting to think that the 1 metre wide will be easier to handle.
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The make we used when I was working was Mypex. It went under gravel paths or used in an ornamental grass garden to grow the plants through. We would also use it in the nursery beds to put all our potted plants on as they were hardening off. It was a great covering for the poly tunnel floor. Lasted us for years as it is very hard wearing. With a hose down and folded up for the winter it was ready for the next years plants.
Best to find a commercial supplier I think we used to pay something about £80 for a 100m x 2m roll. No vat if you told them it was for edible crops.
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You also need to think about the thickness or GSM as its called I think the thickest is 100gms which is what I use,payed £80 for 2mtr X 100mtr,I use it for planting brasicas - onions - broad beans and some flowers through and I cut mine with a gas soldering iron as it helps to stop it fraying and use tent pegs and about 6"piece of 17mm plastic pipe(just what I inherited but you could use canes) to peg it down in several places
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Many thanks for the info. I have found 1x100 meters on special offer for £39. So think I might go for that. 100 gram. You can get 50gm cheaper but various remarks about it being like tissue paper. Includes Vat.
https://www.weedfabricdirect.co.uk/ground-cover-fabric/1-metre-ground-cover-fabric.html
No vat if you told them it was for edible crops.
This seems odd.
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this is my fruit plot covered in membrane then topped with bark been down 3 seasons and still asgoodas new
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Many thanks for the info. I have found 1x100 meters on special offer for £39. So think I might go for that. 100 gram. You can get 50gm cheaper but various remarks about it being like tissue paper. Includes Vat.
https://www.weedfabricdirect.co.uk/ground-cover-fabric/1-metre-ground-cover-fabric.html
No vat if you told them it was for edible crops.
This seems odd.
Better to say "you dont need a ticket"..............!!!!!!,not that I would !
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There are all sorts of reasons vat is paid especially when it comes to building alterations, which includes adding/upkeep of a path. New build is different. If used under a path it is building works and needs vat paid. If used for crops it is vat free. But we did have a 'friendly' supplier. I also think if used for flowers it was not exempt.
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Buster54: "I cut mine with a gas soldering iron as it helps to stop it fraying".
Could you go into some more detail about the gas soldering iron? Do they come in different sizes?
I have quite a lot of mypex rolled out to suppress weeds over the winter, and am intrigued by the idea of drawing a circle on the mypex in situ, if that is how you do it?
I have a heavy iron bar I was thinking of heating up in a bonfire to stamp holes through the mypex, but your method sounds much more manageable, and I can't always be having bonfires.....
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PS Would a blowtorch work for making sealed holes in the mypex?
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PS Would a blowtorch work for making sealed holes in the mypex?
I got something similar to this about 4 years ago,just keep topping it up with gas
https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/laser-3410-gas-soldering-kit-8pc/
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Thanks!
Does anyone think a blowtorch such as http://www.amazon.co.uk/GoGas-Auto-DIY-Blowtorch/dp/B0017RMJSG would work? The reason being that I never do soldering - but if I got a blowtorch a) I think the gas cannisters would last longer for making holes in the mypex, and b) I could use it in the kitchen for browning meringues and singing the crème brûlées I might make.....and stripping paint......etc
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Thanks!
Does anyone think a blowtorch such as http://www.amazon.co.uk/GoGas-Auto-DIY-Blowtorch/dp/B0017RMJSG would work? The reason being that I never do soldering - but if I got a blowtorch a) I think the gas cannisters would last longer for making holes in the mypex, and b) I could use it in the kitchen for browning meringues and singing the crème brûlées I might make.....and stripping paint......etc
Personally I would use the soldering iron as there is no flame and you would have better control,I just bought mine to cut the membrane as I use the membrane for my onions and garlic,oh O don't cut a hole out I cut an X so it all folds back to the plants
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I do not want to cut holes in it. I have the idea that it upsets the worms big time and hence the soil quality as all the soil beasties disappear. So hoping that only a metre wide and only a few weeks will not upset them too much.
Grew potatoes though plastic once and the slugs had a field day.
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i grow all my squash plants thru membrane and sweetcorn i just dig it over cover with well rotted manure straw and brown grass clippings then plant tru it always works for me and no slug damage
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I grew my squash though membrane last year, very pleased and will be doing the same again this season.
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this years squash bed ready for action
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What is the advantage of growing squash through a membrane?
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It keeps the weeds down. Depending how far I get with my raised beds, I may well bo doing something similar this year.
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What is the advantage of growing squash through a membrane?
it keeps the ground warm weeds down and keeps the ground damp all good for growing squash doing my sweetcorn bed tomorrow weather permitting hope this helps
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sweetcorn bed completed just the tomato bed to go
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I usually use hops as weed control. I think I'm going to try this method for growing melons this year. johhnyco15 surely that picture was not taken this morning? Is there any chance you you can nudge the :sunny: my way.
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I usually use hops as weed control. I think I'm going to try this method for growing melons this year. johhnyco15 surely that picture was not taken this morning? Is there any chance you you can nudge the :sunny: my way.
yes indeed clumsy that was around 10 this morning they dont call this the sunshine coast for nothing you know
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So what is the general verdict on the death of worms and other soil organisms when the earth is covered for a season with permeable membrane?
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So what is the general verdict on the death of worms and other soil organisms when the earth is covered for a season with permeable membrane?
So what is the general verdict on the death of worms and other soil organisms when the earth is covered for a season with permeable membrane?
So what is the general verdict on the death of worms and other soil organisms when the earth is covered for a season with permeable membrane?
I find that it depends on what food they have , so if your bed had manure then the cover it will be full of life but if there's no supply of roughage from above then it can be less alive, however I would expect that soil animals don't like drying out much either and so the covers probably increase the soil humidity in the top layer. If it was plastic though then it would just dry out underneath to. Swings an roundabouts I'd say. X sunloving
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Worms are very mobile. Is there any evidence that they die, or do they just move out?
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under my fabric i put 10 large bags of well rotted manure then straw then 6 large bags of nearly rotted leaves then finally the fabric there is always an abundance of worms etc when i lift the membrane at the end of each season and no trace of above mentioned substances so i believe the worms are thriving pic shows the bed ready for the membrane
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j15, that sounds an absolutely wonderful mix.
Yesterday I removed a tarpaulin put down last October over some horse manure and a lot of weeds and was very pleased to find the soil clean and workable, though I did have to dig out 4 or 5 surviving dandelions and a dock. After only a bit of raking, and spreading some kitchen compost (well rotted apart from all those long lasting egg shells), I was able to plant 50 broad bean plants straight into it with no further digging. Quite a few worms and other creatures wriggling about, so no harm done.
I have let this plot get into a terrible mess, so Covering and Smothering is the way to go, I think, to get it back.
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What is the advantage of growing squash through a membrane?
There are other advantages that are shared by all mulches - reduced water loss (squash are thirsty plants) which can also mean the plants get more time to send roots down between waterings. Frequent watering can encourage roots to go up.
Sheet mulches are useful but either need to go in between rows (with an extra task to hold each strip down properly) or they need to be pierced to get the plants in.
Piercing the sheet only really makes sense with big plants that need to be spaced out both ways. Basically the law of averages says the more piercings made the more piercings damaged - you end the season lifting and storing a much more fragile sheet. You may even end up with a sheet that is too much trouble to re-use.
If your crop matures over a long period then you may try to remove some before the rest are ready - which is asking for trouble if you can't just leave the root in place - pot leeks are doable (with a knife) but blanched ones aren't - onions are particularly tricky - and at both ends of the season, since sprouting sets have a habit of missing the hole.
Cheers.
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Hi I always plant my squash plants through good quality permeable membrane. I actually get less slug damage this way & it keeps the actual fruits off the damp clay soil as well. If I have strawberry beds I also plant through membrane & find that I have less rain damage on the fruits. Jane