|
| It's been suggested that before planting sweet potatoes, a layer of black plastic should be laid down for several weeks to heat the soil. So, I laid some black plastic down on the row I plan on planting my sweet potatoes. I have a couple questions, 1. Does this look right? I put rocks down on the sides to hold the plastic in place. 2. How do I water if I leave the plastic down all season?
Thanks! Michele
|
Follow-Up Postings:
|
| Looks like you have the start of a good plan. My suggestion would be to pull up your plastic, pile up the soil, to make a raised bed 12 inches tall by 24 inches wide or as tall and wide as you can. This will give you softer soil for the sweet potatoes to grow in. I would next dig a trench on the edge of you pile and bury the plastic. To water, you could run drip tape or for your size, run a piece of soaker hose under the plastic. I would leave it on all year, very minimal weeding. Here are my beds ready for sweet potatoes this year. Here are a few pics from last year.
Here you can see the drip tape sticking out. I don't have the header line hooked up yet. Growing during the season
Harvest time
Good Luck! Jay |
|
| Very good advice from Jay. If you want the soil even warmer put clear poly over the black. This is how I start melons early. Clear over black is the warmest you can get without a heater. |
|
| Thanks for the advice! I did hill a little bit, but I'll spend some time this weekend building it up higher. Is it OK to add some compost to build it up? This is my community garden plot, and they have compost available. Also, since it is a community garden plot, the option of drip tape is out. Is there any other way to water? I do have a home garden, but I also do a community garden spot to grow my potatoes, sweet potatoes and onions. It gets great sun there and frees up my home garden for other things. It's also fun to meet fellow gardeners :) |
|
| Plastic mulch does heat the soil. Here in Central Indiana it makes no difference with or without plastic as it gets warm here. I use IRT mulch when I use plastic. It lets the rays through and warms better than black, but stops weeds. When I use plastic, I don't use drip tape. I simply water some through the hole where the plant is. Sweetpotatoes need less water than most veggies, so watering is not over-daunting. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Vegetable Gardening Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.