[nemo]

hello
I have just finished filling my raised beds with soil in our new poly tunnel . i am thinking of buying black plastic, to cover the soil in the raised beds with plastic to stop weeds growing.would it be a good job to just plant things through the plastic,only cutting the plastic to plants the plants.would this work or would the soil be effected from being covered.i will be planting sweetcorn tomatoes ,peppers melons etc.
would paper mulch from fruit hill farms be better ,it is very expensive compared to plastic
what is your opinion
regards
nemo

[forest flame]

hi nemo
i wouldnt recommend plastic but you could use a permeable membrane such as mypex to cover the beds this would allow the soil to breathe and stop the weeds at the same time.there are other brands apart from mypex which are considerably cheaper and just as effective.

[Protein]

Hi Nemo

As you will probably be heavily working the soil, weeds can be kept fairly under control. Not to say weeds wont be an issue, but if you hoe weed seedlings, you should be able to keep them under control.

I would try it without weedblock for the first year, and see how you fair.

Me

[nemo]

thanks everybody for your comments.it great to get help from like minded people
regards
nemo

[galwaybeginner]

Nemo, I have a tunnel which I put in earlier in the year, and I laid a layer of old newspapers a little down to keep deep roots at bay, and have managed (very easily) to keep the weeds abouve this at bay since. It's really not necessary to lay plastic. A mulch, or plastic, will provide insects a perfect breeding ground and also the [plastic would provide the perfect moisture and warmth for fungus to destroy roots.

[brennan.jm]

Nemo I think its a bad idea to cover with plastic when sowing. It creates more work than the weeding and the weeds will be harder to get at as they will appear where your plants are. I think the right time to cover with plastic is when you have harvested and the beds are idle for the winter.