I have just got some more straw and it is rather soft and fluffy, previous has been rather stiff.
I think the soft is wheat and the stiff is barley but it might be the other way round.
1. Which is which?
2. Which is best for Strawberries, soft or stiff? The soft seems much dustier and smells gets right up my nose. Plus I am allergic to wheat and probably barley as well. It is the germ which upsets me not the gluten.
3. Which rots the slowest?
I had some straw last year which made me sneeze violently when I went near it. Also it has not rotted down in my compost like previous years. So this year I am using weed suppressing fabric. Not much help am I?
I'm using the stuff I get for my chickens which is called "straw" - sorry! :tongue3:
Surely the main (only?) reason for using straw is to stop mud washing onto them? Can't see the type of straw mattering either way and I never heard it being discussed in my fruit farming days. Even when they were grown through plastic we still strawed between the rows to keep the mud down. If it makes you sneeze it's different of course!
Was the straw rotten? It gets fungal rots which release vast amounts of spores, which sometimes rise in visible clouds when it's disturbed. This is a major cause of asthma, so it's worth thinking about.
My FIL swears by using Barley straw from farmers once they have combined as it takes longer to break down and go mouldy..
I think that it is barley that I want. I think I normally get it because, the horsey/rabbit people do not like it because it is rather stiff. And they want something soft for their little darlings. I find it scatters around the place too much.
So many thanks barley it is.
I don't know what sort of straw I've got...just ordered big load of bales in spring (or was it autumn? :drunken_smilie:)..but it is really course. Last summer's mulch has barely gone down and the same lot will keep plants going this summer too :icon_cheers:
So now the bales that bought for this summer will keep me going until next.
I use finer straw too...for chicken's bedding indoors, but it doesn't have no indication on bag what sort it is. Just 'shredded straw'..that rot down quite quickly.
Only trouble I find with the course straw is that I need to use quite a lot chicken pellets or other form of fertilizer underneath before I lay the straw down as mulch....as it takes long time to rot down, it takes lot of nitrogen from soil for the process. Last year some crops didn't like it a bit and until I supplemented with extra feed the growth was very slow...or perhaps too much water from the sky has something to do with too :BangHead:
Wettest year in history and I had record amount of deep mulching done before it started to prevent ground drying out....sods law..and slugs heaven :BangHead:
I use the bales one year to keep the courgettes warm and out of the wind and then the next I use it for mulch. I grew them on top one year but the ones beside the bales did a lot better. In order to warm up for the courgettes they get a high nitrogen boost. I have not noticed any crops being unhappy with the mulching.
This year I bought several bales for the strawberries which I do not like so I am going to get some more course ones. I will swap the others for something. Maybe they will turn into jam or plums.
My strawberries rotten last year so this year they have got loads of straw, so there might be a problem with that later on. But they are very well fed. Potash, recycled compost (Mainly to keep down the dust from the ash), BFB and turbo fruiter. I am very determined to have strawberries this year.