DANGERS of using STRAW | Please Watch Before using it

WARNING! Straw is an awesome resource for gardening, landscaping and lawns...however, it can be potentially detrimental to the soil balance of nitrogen.
~
I'm trying to save you the heartache that I've experienced in the past because I didn't understand this simple yet potentially detrimental bit of information.
~
I hope you don't have to learn the hard way like I did.
~
Blessings, friends!
~
Benj aka Gardenguy

[gilshelley]

I am an actual soil scientist. Straw is fine on the surface of the soil. No nitrogen issues unless you incorporate it into the soil.

[austinchavez]

Imbalance of Nitrogen?! This is the last straw!

[rrbb]

The topic of Nitrogen has been sufficiently commented on. However, there is one important consideration about using straw or hay as a mulch or even as a Ruth Stout style growing medium… and that is “herbicide carryover”. It’s important to know how the hay or straw was grown, or you may end up with no crop at all.

[knitterscheidt]

I've heard alfalfa pellets are very good but since I'm in the suburbs with about 6000 sq ft of lawn I just bag grass clippings and put them around plants, add a light sprinkle of organic fertilizer. It's cheap, breaks down in one growing season and the clay soil becomes very dark and soft and it holds moisture very well. I've had absolutely no weed issues or insects from it. The worm population increases. I'm just an amateur but I like the results.

[bobbiechinn]

Lots of critics need to keep in mind there are LOTS of variables in play. This young man has lots to teach and share ❤

[dr.michaelr.foreman]

I grew up on a market garden farm. We had acres of strawberries. My dad always used straw to cover the strawberries for the winter. The only issue I discovered as a boy was, yellow jackets like to make the straw into their nests. I know because I stepped off the tractor right onto a nest of yellow jackets. A very painful experience.

[ryanr.]

I use chopped straw for mulch purchased from Tractor Supply in a zone 10b garden every spring. Yes, there are a few errant wheat seeds, but after a month of picking them out they’re gone for the year. In the following spring, I cover the remaining straw mulch which is mostly broken down with several inches of compost and plant directly into that. I’ve had zero issues.

[Scout]

I surround my garden plants with newspaper, then spread straw over that. It gives me a clean surface to walk through, and suppresses weed growth. I’ve had success with this method for many years. It also keeps moisture in the soil. When gardening is over, through the fall, winter and spring, most of the newspaper and straw decompose. I simply till all this matter back into the soil when preparing for the next year’s garden.

[MichaelIreland]

I use fresh straw to insulate my strawberries over winter in my raised bed, then in the spring I put it all into my small compost bin. During the winter, we pile in coffee grounds, banana peels, and eggshells, along with other vegetable scraps. Mixing in the straw aerates and loosens the whole lot, and I can usually get a few fresh lawn clippings in there. I mix it a couple of times per week. By the end of June, I have a nicely balanced compost for top dressing!

Also, high straw ratio can safely be used around potatoes because of the nitrogen fixing activity of potato-soil-microbe-fungi relationships. Depleting nitrogen around them is pretty harmless.

[charinabottae]

Sitting on the soil surface, dry, as a mulch, there is no nitrogen issue. There is a very small interface of actual decomposition at the soil surface. Virtually no chance of nitrogen depletion unless and until it is tilled in or covered with soil/compost. Wood chips do exactly the same thing. Not much of an issue unless it's incorporated into the soil.

[muddeprived]

I have used straw as a mulch on my garden beds for a couple years now. It mainly is to keep the compost moist because the summers are pretty hot here. I have not had any issues. Mulching it up with a bag mower makes it so much better to apply.

[celiem]

I ACTUALLY USE THE STRAW I HAVE FOR BETWEEN MY ROWS SO IT DOESN'T GET MUDDY IF IT RAINS. OH, EXCUSE MY CAPS PLEASE. I CAN'T SEE THE SMALL LETTERS WELL ENOUGH TO USE THEM ON THIS CHEAP PHONE.

[echolukka]

Tip: Search out organic oat or wheat straw if possible. Most farmers spray wheat once per season with herbicides and oats need to be sprayed twice. Those farmers who don't spray have an enormous crop of weeds that go to seed in their fields, so you most likely will have weed seeds to deal with in your bales and into your garden. Bottom line: wood chips are a better mulch.

[RepublicTX]

I love using a small layer of hay for mulch. It's cheap and goes a long way. Now I'm afraid to use it after hearing horror stories about hay from fields treated with Grazon. It's a broad leaf weed killer. The grass can take it up but doesn't die, so cows and sheep can graze on it. That crap stays in the hay forever and goes right through the cows into their manure. Put some Grazon-treated hay or contaminated manure on your garden and it's dead dead dead. I understand one way to get rid of it is to grow a crop or two of corn. The corn will take up the grazon, but you have to throw away all parts of the corn. As far as I know, there's no way to determine if hay is contaminated with this latest gift from Big Ag.

[gilshelley]

Here's the best scoop I know. Take your hay/straw/clippings and put them in a clear contactors bag. Dampen the contents, close, and let the seeds sprout. Open the bag, spread contentrens on ground and let all the seedling perish. This gives you the added advantage of promoting photo and hydrolyzation decomposition of any herbicides that may have been present.

[MissTrixie]

I am so glad I found this. I’ve used it in the fall with no issues and was going to put it down for weed control now in June. That makes complete sense. I was going to go out yesterday to get it. I’m so glad I didn’t.

[dhamby]

Remember to add the appropriate amount of nitrogen when adding all types of carbon. Straw, wood chips, compost and any other high carbon ratio amendment added to the soil will need extra nitrogen. Straw is not even the highest carbon ratio soil ammendment.

[wuskfsv]

from my experience straw works great, just don't till it in until it is completely decomposed. laying it on top of the ground doesn't upset the nitrogen ratio

[RIchArpin-decs]

Alfalfa hay is the best garden mulch. Its high in phosphorus, which your veggies need alot of and no herbicides are needed on alfalfa, plus it breaks done much faster than straw and adds great organic matter.

[planttasticcookinggardenin]

I add thin layers of untreated cut grass under my straw, seems to work great and it’s free. Just don’t add too much or it gets mucky. Good information!