Are there any special tips for hay bale gardening?

Angie
by Angie
  9 answers
  • Shoshana Shoshana on Mar 29, 2017

    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.

  • Janet Pizaro Janet Pizaro on Mar 29, 2017

    www.hometalk.com/diy/grow/plants/straw-bale-gardening-1712999

  • Sue Eager Sue Eager on Mar 29, 2017

    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.

  • Dfm Dfm on Mar 29, 2017

    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.

  • Joyce Dobeck Joyce Dobeck on Mar 30, 2017

    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.


  • Satindoll Satindoll on Mar 30, 2017

    use bales of pine straw

  • Imp22013828 Imp22013828 on Mar 30, 2017

    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.

  • Marnie Marnie on Apr 01, 2017

    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.