Straw Bale Gardening Temperature

The following chart is published in Gardening with Straw Bales by Dustin Blakey University of California Cooperative Extension. This happens as it begins taking in moisture and decomposing.

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Straw bale gardening temperature. Day 9 of straw bale conditioning. You can prepare your bales by just keeping them wet for three to four weeks prior to planting. Feel the top of the bale s for heat or use a compost thermometer to measure the temperature.

Days 1 to 3. Make sure bales stay damp. Growing food in straw bales is a technique developed by Joel Karsten in his book.

You will have to provide your. Check the bale on day 11. Quick tips for straw bale gardening.

Prior to planting Day 11 make sure the bale s have cooled down internally to 99F or below around body temperature or lower. Feeding your plants that are growing with straw bale is important as the straw bale holds very few nutrients. After two weeks of preparing the bale stick your hand inside the bale to determine warmth.

As the bale goes through the conditioning process the internal temperature may rise to 120 degrees or even higher. If it feels about the same temperature as your hand you can plant your vegetables. Add compost seed-free soil or bone meal to the top of the bale before starting a straw bale garden.

You need to do this once a day for three days to start the conditioning process. I use the bale as the warming table to germinate all my seeds in a large tray and then transfer then after the bail has cooled. The bale should feel warm but not super hot to the touch.

They require temperatures between 70F and 80F to germinate properly. Urea can be used as a bale amendment as can fish emulsion or fertilizer. As the microorganisms start to work the inside of the bale.

Check the Nitrogen content in the fertilizers. This bacterial colonization of the bales completely metabloizes these chemicals and certainly with a half-life of 30-40 days these chemicals will be long gone once a bale of straw is completely decomposed. At the two week mark the temperature drops to just above day-time air temperature.

Always keep the straw damp. A temperature check with a thermometer or a bare hand stuck into the center of the bale will give a good idea of whether the bales are below 100 degrees. With the proper fertilizers and water your straw bale should warm up to a temperature of about 100 degrees.

Excessive heat may impact transplants or seeds placed into the bale s. The temperature was a cool 48 degrees and the bales were all between 60 and 62 internally. You can check this with a meat thermometer.

Alternatively if they are large enough you can grow tomatoes in pots as long as. It can dry quickly. Once your straw bales are in place take the garden hose and water each bale thoroughly.

I put the last bit of nitrogen rich fertilizer on the bales today. You can see that there is a huge increase in temperature during conditioning. If it feels hot to the touch water the bale another day and check it again on Day 12.

Youll be able to plant tomato seeds into your straw bales directly and allow them to germinate on their own. As in many gardening techniques there are proponents of several different methods. For the first few days of conditioning the temperature inside the straw bale rises to anywhere from 100 -125 degrees.

The conditioning process in Straw Bale Gardening will easily generate vigorous bacteria and fungi growth so much so that they cause the bales to generate heat often exceeding 140 degrees. Highest temp I got was 60 degrees Celsius and that was using Urea water soluble. When it the temperature of the straw bale comes down to equal the air temperature your bale is ready for planting.

When I activate a bale cook I measure the temps with a probe every day for 2 weeks. But I will finish the straw bale conditioning as Joel describes it and should be planting within a few days. Planting Seed Large seeds and for individual plants cucurbits legumes beets and chard kale kohlrabi etc Remove a chunk of straw and fill the hole with potting soil Small seeds or to plant in rows Put a couple inches of potting soil on top of the balesMake sure its level Water carefully so it doesnt wash away Or cut the bottom out of a plastic flat pin it.

Soak it with water. The bales begin to decompose. Choose your plants On day 10 return to simply watering the bale and continue doing that until the temperature inside the bale starts to reflect the temperature outside.

If you fail at strawbale gardening. Not only is a straw bale garden a great temporary way to start a vegetable plot in your backyard it is also a means to self-reliance and self-sufficiency. If the temperature is cooler than your body temperature youre ready for starting.

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