500lbs Guerilla
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I've done it with vegetables, with success. There is prep work for the bails. I learned the technique on Pinterest, they have many good articles on the subject. It should work on any crop.Searched around but didn't really find much. Anybody have experience with building raised beds out of strawbales?
Seems cheaper than lumber, would breathe and keep soil cool, would be easy to lay a plank across an 8x8 bed, and you can sit on it and enjoy the shade of those shadow casting trees growing inside the beds. Not sure of any downfalls other than that it would decompose in a couple years or so, and that critters may make homes out of it.
Any try it or know anybody that has?
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I've done it with vegetables, with success. There is prep work for the bails. I learned the technique on Pinterest, they have many good articles on the subject. It should work on any crop.
We had ours on an old tilled bed we'd used for tomatoes. If you search for bale gardening on Pinterest, you will find more information than you'll ever need.I understand that you need to "cure" the bails if you intend to plant directly into the bail itself. What prep work did you do for framing beds out of them?
Nice set up!Used straw bales last year worked real nice for my needs...
https://www.thcfarmer.com/community/threads/b-o-g-s-sour-grape-in-straw-bales.63499/
But you could also use them for some veggies while growing in your soil.
STR8
Yes. They use a LOT of water. They'll sprout. Once they break down they become soil, so I use them a lot around the property, especially on slopes to help hold "soil" in place.Searched around but didn't really find much. Anybody have experience with building raised beds out of strawbales?
Seems cheaper than lumber, would breathe and keep soil cool, would be easy to lay a plank across an 8x8 bed, and you can sit on it and enjoy the shade of those shadow casting trees growing inside the beds. Not sure of any downfalls other than that it would decompose in a couple years or so, and that critters may make homes out of it.
Any try it or know anybody that has?
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Not in my experience. I dug out a channel on the top and laid down a layer of soil. That was all that was really needed. I don't use them to create a wall, I use the bales themselves.I understand that you need to "cure" the bails if you intend to plant directly into the bail itself. What prep work did you do for framing beds out of them?
Grew out plants in straw bales and had no issues. The straw bales can not be over watered, due to the capillary action of the straw. Heck my hot peppers, tomatoes and eggplants loved them too.one word....mildew
I tried using haybales one year and ended up with a severe case of mold issues. It was good clean horse hay before I put them in my greenhouse.
Using haybales as just borders for soil beds might be OK but I'd still watch for mold and rodents nesting inside.
Would strawbales be a better option? dunno?
Here is my bale grow from 2014, for what it's worth.Not in a greenhouse, it's probably pretty humid in there already.
Outside in open air ,no problems.
I'm gonna try it next summer with ya there Zoner. I've got pepper plants that would love the air in the roots.
STR8
Hay is very different from straw, mainly because hay is cut while the plant is still green (and still chock full of N the animals can use to lay down as muscle and bone, etc) and straw is cut or the remains of cuttings of plants that have gone dead and brown. There's a lot less decomposition that occurs in straw bales in a short period of time as compared to hay, alfalfa, oat, whatever you're using that's actually a green cut of hay.I tried using haybales one year and ended up with a severe case of mold issues. It was good clean horse hay before I put them in my greenhouse.
Using haybales as just borders for soil beds might be OK but I'd still watch for mold and rodents nesting inside.
Would strawbales be a better option? dunno?
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