Hi Don and Rhys
My question was specifically about weed membrane, what my allotment shop calls mypex and which is 105g/m2. I think it is a copy of the actual brand ‘Mypex’.
Don
Perhaps you missed my comment that the 60cm spacing was for ADAPTABILITY, for widely spaced crops such as brassicas (I am thinking about sprouts, PSB), courgettes, squash etc., not just potatoes and not specifically early potatoes or cabbages. I hadn’t intended the spacing to be the optimum for every crop. The RHS recommends 37x75cm spacing for maincrop, giving 2775cm2/plant. My planned spacing of 3600cm2/plant is generous for potatoes, but the adaptability for other crops is my aim. I am lucky in having a new second plot so I wonder if a generous spacing is not a bad thing until the soil fertility builds up. I know that Charles is able to grow very intensively because he uses far more compost than I have, hence my thinking about growing extensively.
For my weed membrane the allotment shop charges £0.50/m2 and much less if I buy a full roll. I have googled 1200grade dpc and have not found anything ‘vastly cheaper’, and it is generally more expensive unless buying 100m2 or so. It would be useful to have a link to your cheaper source. I think that Charles, in a previous thread, has recommended using a much thinner and cheaper plastic in answer to a similar comment about 1200grade dpc. I agree that thick plastic is great for suppressing weeds, but I wonder if the permeability of mypex is better for growing crops, particularly on a concave raised bed or slope where we might get sheet run-off with impermeable plastic.
Rhys
I don’t think that hilling up is viable when planting under mypex or plastic sheeting and the hope is that it is the membrane that will eliminate the weeds.