We have just taken over an allotment that is relatively new - it was pasture a couple of years ago. We don't have time to dig it all before the growing season starts. We have dug two plots and the third was dug last year and is now very weedy. We thought about knocking the weeds down with a weed killer (Weedol) and planting potatoes through slits in black plastic sheeting. Do you think this will work?
Even if you used weedkiller, the soil will be full of weed seeds from years of being pasture land which will germinate over time- so you'll need to keep on top of them anyway with a hoe, so weedkiller won't solve that.
If you want to use plastic to stop them from germinating, giving you less hoeing to do, it will also serve to kill the weeds that have already sprouted.
Yes, you can grow spuds through plastic- i did it last year. When you're watering its a lot more fiddly as you have to take your hose to each hole and water each potato plant seperately, which is a big job if you're growing a lot of them.
On a plus point, they don't need watering as often as the plastic acts as a mulch, stopping evaporation.
On a negative point, even if the holes are small, because you're not earthing up, there'll be plenty of spuds that will turn green on you. (more than using the hill method)
Despite that, i got a good crop and it was a good way of using an area that i hadn't fully cleared.
There are other plants which also grow nicely through plastic and with fewer negatives like greening and long winded watering sessions- like squash and pumpkin?