Here are these tips from Bonnie Seeds for conditioning your straw bale:
- Site your bale in a sunny spot. Once it’s there, it ain’t movin’.
- Position the bale. The narrow side with the cut edges of straw should be facing up. This will help the bale to better...
- Water the bale. On days 1 to 3 of conditioning, simply irrigate the bale with a hose or watering can.
Full Answer
How to condition straw bale for gardening?
Only after proper conditioning can you can start implementing them in your gardening. Remember to place them in the bright sunlight and water them sufficiently. If you have nourished the start bale well, you can be confident in growing your plants. Here is how you condition your Straw Bale in the easiest way possible.
How do you get rid of hay bales fast?
On days 1 to 3 of conditioning, simply irrigate the bale with a hose or watering can. Add fertilizer. On days 4 to 9, mix a high-nitrogen fertilizer into the water you irrigate with. This will help speed up decomposition of the bale, essentially turning it into compost.
How long does it take to start a straw bale garden?
It’s so easy! But starting a straw bale garden isn’t as easy as planting your tomatoes and squash inside your newly required bale. It requires a 10- to 14-day conditioning period in which you begin to break down the straw and cultivate a fertile growing environment.
What is the best source of nitrogen for conditioning hay bales?
I like to use blood meal as an organic nitrogen source for conditioning the bales. Another option that works well is feather meal. Whatever source is used, it should have a minimum of 5% active nitrogen content. Manure will just not work quickly enough, it doesn’t have enough concentration of active nitrogen.
How to use straw bales?
To use the straw bale, one must condition them. Only after proper conditioning can you can start implementing them in your gardening. Remember to place them in the bright sunlight and water them sufficiently. If you have nourished the start bale well, you can be confident in growing your plants.
How to keep a straw bale from getting wet?
1. Keep the Straw Bale right under the Sun. Excessive sunlight helps your straw bale. Find a place that has a good amount of sunlight during the day. If the bale is wet, it becomes harder for you to move them around. In case you’ll have to place it on the grass, use a newspaper underneath.
Why should you use the straw bale gardening method?
Straw bale gardening has proved to be an inexpensive and effective option to deal with poor soil conditions. When gardeners suffer from growing their plants on soil with low nutrition, there are a lot of ways to resolve the problem.
Why is it important to feed plants with straw bales?
Feeding your plants that are growing with straw bale is important, as the straw bale holds very few nutrients.
Why do you put straw bales on the soil?
When you lay them on the soil and let them compost, you enhance the texture of your soil. Most gardeners use this technique when they find out that their soil has become unresponsive and poor. Once you get your hands on the straw bale, you’ll have to start conditioning it before using it.
What is the straw bale method?
The straw bale method will revive your garden. With this method, you can also decorate your garden well, as you can arrange or design your straw in a creative way. For example, you can cut the hay in various shapes. You will surely have a good gardening experience.
What makes a straw bale stand out?
What makes this straw bale technique stand out is that a gardener can spend the least amount while contributing to a good yield. The straw bale doesn’t cost you much. You can either get it from your farm or find it in the market for a lower price.
How long does a straw bale garden last?
They’re inexpensive to get started. They’re temporary, but can last as long as three years. All the materials involved are completely compostable. It’s so easy! But starting a straw bale garden isn’t as easy as planting your tomatoes and squash inside your newly required bale.
How long does it take for a bale of hay to return to ambient temperature?
It will spike and then return to ambient temperature. This could take from one to four days; continue watering the bale without fertilizer as you wait.
How to keep bales from movin?
Position the bale. The narrow side with the cut edges of straw should be facing up. This will help the bale to better retain moisture. Water the bale. On days 1 to 3 of conditioning, simply irrigate the bale with a hose or watering can. Add fertilizer.
Why does water not come out of straw?
Capillary action causes water to be sucked into straw’s narrow tubes. Once inside, moisture is held inside due to “adhesion”; a force that holds one molecule of water to another. “Adhesion” will also cause the water to not reverse out of the cylinder because it cannot break the surface tension. Evaporation is the only way water will leave the straw.
Is there a problem with soil borne diseases?
There are no problems with soil-borne diseases or insect pest that have been hiding in soil. There is no need to be concerned with crop rotation.
How long does it take to condition a straw bale?
We are now half way through how to condition a straw bale for gardening. The whole conditioning process takes 10 days, after which we’re ready to plant. Pour on half cup of fertilizer again, and wash it in with some warm water. The straw bale should be feeling a bit warmer today.
Where to put the straw bale for gardening?
My f irst consideration was where to place my straw bale garden. I wanted partial shade, close to my house, and conveniently placed so I can keep a close eye on progress, yet keeping in mind that it is a “bale of straw” in my garden.
What does it mean when a straw bale is cut side up?
One side is the cut side and it looks like the ends of the straw are aligned and have been sliced off with a knife.
What is Straw Bale Gardens Complete?
It proclaims to be a breakthrough vegetable gardening method, with a lot of information on gardening in small spaces, organically growing vegetables, and saving water.
Why are strings important in straw bales?
String is important for keeping the straw bale compressed which will help it to decompose quicker.
How long does it take for straw bales to compost?
I’m rather impatient and Joel said: “It will take 10 days to get the fertilizer and water deep down inside so they can start to “cook”. ”.
How much sun does a straw bale garden need?
At this point, I was a little worried about the position of my straw bale garden. Joel mentioned that a straw garden must have 6 to 8 hours of full sun every day. However, my son said that we live in the tropics with temperatures over 35 degrees and plants would be better off in partial shade.
How long does chicken manure need to be composted?
The manure must be composted for a short 6-12 week period and covered during this time to avoid having rain leach the nitrogen content from the manure.
Can chicken manure be used in combination with blood meal?
Use this chicken manure in combination with a known concentration such as blood meal or feather meal, and the chicken manure can prove effective and s trong enough in nitrogen concentration to achieve the objective of feeding enough nitrogen to grow bacteria quickly inside the bales.
Why do you plant straw bales earlier?
It requires less weeding, it takes less space than a traditional garden and you can plant earlier because the bale decomposition warms the plant roots. There are a few things I have learned about the process as I was experimenting with how to condition straw bales.
How hot can a straw bale get?
The inside can be downright hot, even getting up to 200 degrees. when it’s in the process of creating that wonderful product for your garden. Straw bale gardening works off that same idea and the processes that create compost. You are going to use conditioning to quickly speed the decomposition of your bale.
How to keep a bale of hay from decomposing?
Place the bale on its side with the twine going around the bale. This will keep it intact while it is decomposing. Make sure the cut side (not the folded side) is placed up. This will allow the water to reach deeper into the bale and keep it moist longer. Just do your best with this.
How long do straw bales last?
If built correctly, a house made out of straw bales can last up to 100 years if not more. Even so, a structure built using straw bale can be tilled back into the earth, so almost nothing will go to waste. Making the most out of a straw bale home’s lifespan is worthy given the rise of energy costs.
Why is straw used in houses?
Hay provides food value to animals and insects, but straw does not. Straw is used to build houses because it does not attract rodents, termites or other insects. Actually, a conventional, stick-built house is more likely to suffer a termite infestation than a straw bale house.
Can you plant in a straw bale?
Before you can actually plant in a straw bale you need to condition it. Basically you are starting the decomposition process before planting so the heat the bale makes when it breaks down will not damage your plants. If you don’t do this you will kill your plants – the straw will just be too hot inside.