Mulching with straw in greenhouse?

[tricia]

I have acquired a bale of straw and apart from mulching my squash and other veggie plants outdoors I'm considering using the remainder to mulch tomato, cucumber, pepper and aubergine plants in their pots in the greenhouse. Advisable or not?

Tricia

[tricia]

[Robert_Brenchley]

Why not? It might not make all that much difference, but it should cut down the rate of evaporation from the pot.

[Si]

Will it not act a bit like a straw oven?

[Robert_Brenchley]

A straw oven works because the food is hot when you put it in, and the straw keeps it hot. If anything, the straw in this case will probably keep some of the heat of the day out, and cool the soil.

[kitten]

Off at a tangent slightly, but how did you acquire a bale of straw (green with envy smiley) - i'm desperate for some straw to mulch everything but have no idea where to get one  :-\

[Columbus]

Hi all,

Off at a tangent slightly, but how did you acquire a bale of straw (green with envy smiley) - i'm desperate for some straw to mulch everything but have no idea where to get one 

Me too, my strawberries are ripening, how do I get and transport a bale of straw?

:(

Col

Did I mention my strawberries are ripening  ;D  ;D

Something is eatin them.

[sand]

If you don't have any friendly farmers nearby you can buy barley straw from the supermarket in the pet food aisle.  A small packet of tightly packed straw goes every such a long long long way.

Sand

[kitten]

Good tip sand  ;D  i hadn't thought of that!  I guess it will do to make a start with, until we get friendly with a local farmer  ;) lol

[tricia]

I called the local farm where we always haul our farmyard manure from in the Autumn. She said we were lucky - she had just one bale left over from winter which we could have for £2. When we went to pick it up she said she should have charged a fiver as straw at this time of the year is like gold dust - but stayed at £2. We have paid £1 per sack of well-rotted farmyard manure each November for the past three years and are well satisfied. :)

Tricia

[sand]

I'm appalled that farmers charge for manure.  They should be glad we are taking it off their hands!

We don't pay for ours from one of the local stables.  We do bag it ourselves but that means we get to choose the oldest muck.

Cheeky monkeys :o

Sand

[OliveOil]

hmmm i went to open my 3 bales yesterday which i have left out in the rain for weeks and they are all black and mouldy inside - silly me should have covered them!  But they will still do the trick, just play havoc with my asthma and allergies when i'm mulching!

[tricia]

I think I should defend my local farmer who charges for farmyard manure. She is a widow in her sixties who has to pay her farmhands to bag up the manure. We once tried bagging up horse manure at a nearby riding school - a back-breaking job for two senior citizens!

Tricia

[sand]

Fair enough Tricia.  But there are plenty of signs around charging for muck and not enough saying 'free - help yourself'!

Sand

[Rohaise]

 What ever you do ....dont use HAY ....as there are lots of weed and grass seeds in it .    Make sure you use STRAW .   I learnt the hard way   ::)  .
                           Rohaise 

[jemmachan]

What is mulching? What does it do? I've read it in a lot of books, but not quite understood the purpose of it.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Basically it's covering the soil. It keeps moisture in, and discourages weeds. If you use an organic mulch, it also rots down and adds goodness to the soil.

[pye]

What is mulching? What does it do? I've read it in a lot of books, but not quite understood the purpose of it.

Have a read of these, full of great mulching advice  :)

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=24358.0
http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=22395.0