Are there any special tips for hay bale gardening?
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What great idea! You want your bale to be tight. You can use cargo strips to tighten the bale. Make a small planting hole in the bale with enough soil for the plant. Keep the bale damp and use proper fertilizer.
www.hometalk.com/diy/grow/plants/straw-bale-gardening-1712999
Straw Bale Gardening
Make sure you use straw, as opposed to hay. Straw will not mold as easily as hay does when it becomes wet. I guess I would say straw is more porous as the stalks are hollow and will retain the moisture you need.
STRAW not hay
straw not hay, and not moldy straw. when you add the dirt and a bit of fertilizer then the plants. the straw will start to break down into compost. my cousins didn't have much luck with it, but they weren't very attentive to the garden. i think it was 2 tomatoes plant per bale, or 2 pepper plants, etc.
Straw as hay bales will have weeds which won't effect the plant growing in the bale but later if you spread the bale onto the ground.
use bales of pine straw
Hay is horse or cow food. Straw is for absorbing moisture . kind of and works best in the garden when you layer dirt straw dirt straw. About 6 inches to top of garden. Spread it around sprouts usually 2 weeks.
If you can find a copy of "No Work Gardening" by Ruth Stout, you will learn the benefits of using hay rather than straw. I loved the book as well as the actual gardening with old hay. I had great results.