[rowlandwells]

i was watching a gardening program on the TV other day on one of the other channels and it was interesting to see the chap concerned growing his veg in ground cover sheeting he had obviously cut holes in the fabric and planted whatever in the holes the plants looked quite healthy no weeds and i thought is this the no dig principle?

so i thought that mite be worth trying next season on our raised beds but it won't be no dig because i like to dig over my raised beds first then give them a dressing of growmore and other nutrients before covering with ground cover fabric i bought a large roll of polypropylene fabric some years ago and and only used a bit for the tunnel so its been sitting n the shed doing nothing so i thought that's  just the ticket

and because the fabric lets in water and keeps the weeds at bay i can still feed the plants with a liquid feed if needed the only thing i am unsure of is slugs getting under the fabric maybe need to dress the ground with suitable slug pellets prior to putting the ground cover fabric on the beds

anyway its going to be a suck it and see venture if it works and plants grow ok and its weed free then its a bonus if not then its back to the drawing board

[snowdrops]

Hi, no that’s not the no dig philosophy, in fact its not recommended to use that weed suppressant by the main no dig contingent for fear of harbouring slugs  & snails. Part of No dig is about keeping the naturally occurring fungi & micro organisms that live beneath the ground as intact as possible & helping to keep weed seeds suppressed as well amongst many other benefits.
In the past I used to plant my brassicas & squash through holes cut in membrane & I’ve seen on here people who do onions & leeks that way to suppress weeds. But as I now do no dig I find I have a lot less weeds anyway. It will be interesting to find out how you get on. I would say though melt the edges of the ‘holes’ as it does fray dreadfully

[mumofstig]

Rowlandwells: I only used a bit for the tunnel so its been sitting n the shed doing nothing so i thought that's  just the ticket ..... the fabric lets in water and keeps the weeds at bay

Is it the woven weed control fabric, you have RW?
That's what I use for most of my beds. I've got 6or 7?, bed-sized pieces with holes at different spacings for different crops.  I find that onions and leeks are the only crops I still have to regularly hand weed around, their growth is so upright that the weeds have enough light to grow around them through the holes.
I do the same as what you are thinking of doing, I dig/fork over in the late Winter/early Spring adding compost/manure/fertlisers etc and then cover. The beds warm up quickly in the spring under the plastic, another bonus
I (carefully!) cut the holes in mine with an old electric soldering iron. It cuts and welds the edges to stop fraying.

[CHRISDONOHUE]

The essence of no-dig is to avoid digging the soil which disturbs the soil, brings new weed seeds to the surface and disturbs the established micro-climate of soil-dwelling creatures.   If you have enough compost or are willing to invest in sufficient manure, mushroom compost and/or other organic material to cover the soil with a thickish organic mulch, this is ideal.   But an inorganic mulch still meets the three objectives above.   If there are sufficient benefits of the no-dig approach to outweigh the extra risks of encouraging slugs and snails, then it is clearly an advantage over using more traditional methods.   In terms of labour-saving, there is a great advantage, since a light-excluding inorganic mulch will kill weeds underneath.    I do not think a rational adherent of the no-dig approach could find much with which to disagree in this approach.

[New shoot]

The essence of no-dig is to avoid digging the soil which disturbs the soil, brings new weed seeds to the surface and disturbs the established micro-climate of soil-dwelling creatures.   If you have enough compost or are willing to invest in sufficient manure, mushroom compost and/or other organic material to cover the soil with a thickish organic mulch, this is ideal.   But an inorganic mulch still meets the three objectives above.   If there are sufficient benefits of the no-dig approach to outweigh the extra risks of encouraging slugs and snails, then it is clearly an advantage over using more traditional methods.   In terms of labour-saving, there is a great advantage, since a light-excluding inorganic mulch will kill weeds underneath.    I do not think a rational adherent of the no-dig approach could find much with which to disagree in this approach.

I don’t think anyone on here has an issue with anyone digging, or not digging, or using weed membrane or not tbh.

The question was whether covering the soil with weed membrane and planting through it is the no-dig philosophy that people talk about on here and the answer to that is no. No-diggers on here  use deep mulches of organic matter, but as had been said, planting through membrane is an option and one which works well for some 

[Potty Plotty Lotty]

I'm planning to grow my potatoes through left over Myplex next year. I'm rubbish at earthing up so hopefully this will avoid green potatoes (and weeds).

You can even buy sheets with the holes already formed but they will burn a hole in your pocket instead! 

https://www.quickcrop.co.uk/search/gro%20grid

[New shoot]

You can even buy sheets with the holes already formed but they will burn a hole in your pocket instead! 

You are not kidding    Good luck to them if they sell it, but oh my  

[rowlandwells]

thanks all for those replies i must remember the old soldering iron 

[snowdrops]

The essence of no-dig is to avoid digging the soil which disturbs the soil, brings new weed seeds to the surface and disturbs the established micro-climate of soil-dwelling creatures.   If you have enough compost or are willing to invest in sufficient manure, mushroom compost and/or other organic material to cover the soil with a thickish organic mulch, this is ideal.   But an inorganic mulch still meets the three objectives above.   If there are sufficient benefits of the no-dig approach to outweigh the extra risks of encouraging slugs and snails, then it is clearly an advantage over using more traditional methods.   In terms of labour-saving, there is a great advantage, since a light-excluding inorganic mulch will kill weeds underneath.    I do not think a rational adherent of the no-dig approach could find much with which to disagree in this approach.

Not sure if I’m reading your reply correctly but are you saying applying a considerable amount of mulch as is recommended by the no dig approach?
If so I think you have misunderstood the no dig philosophy as it is recommended to apply well rotted mulch in this country in particular because then there is nothing to harbour/attract slugs & snails in the mulch as it is already rotted. I can confirm through my experience that this is in fact what happens. I have been totally no dig for 3 years & partially for longer & I can honestly say that I have little or no problems with slugs/snails at normally. Some of my potatoes had slug damage this year but I put that down to the very dry summer & assume the keeled slugs hunkered down under the mulch & found the potatoes.

[CHRISDONOHUE]

Just to clarify, I agree with Snowdrop that using an inorganic mulch is likely to encourage slugs and snails more than an organic mulch and am in no way suggesting that his no-dig approach does so.   The real question here is to identify what constitutes no-dig in general and what characterises a particular no-dig approach.   I take the view that no-dig in general is any method of growing crops in land that avoids annual digging.   This includes the use of inorganic mulches which are used in part by at least one leading organic gardener who claims not to have dug his vegetable patch for many decades.   To exclude him from being considered a no-dig gardener because he does not follow an exclusively organic mulch approach seems to me merely perverse.

[Ema]

Personally I hate weed membranes.

Bits of it always end up in a hedge even when you’ve been very careful with it

I also think soil needs to breathe  and that the membranes harbour slugs but don’t help the beneficial grubs and beetles.

It’s also very difficult to feed your crops with anything but a liquid feed.