Straw Bale Gardening - Part 3 - the saga continues

I have had bad luck with squash in the bales, so far. The tomatoes seem to be doing much better than squash.

My squash is doing better than anything else in my bales! The pumpkins and cantelopes are doing ok, the tomatoes are not doing much, the broccoli aren't doing much either. Wonder if it has something to do with what kind of bales we are using as to what grows better in them?

My tomatoes are doing great, the squash is doing great, but some of the little baby squash have rotted on the blossom end. I'm not sure why. I have some peppers, pumpkin, cantalope, cucumber, and watermellon in the bales too. All seem to be doing well, although some better than other.

Hmm strangeness. My zucchini and crookneck squash that I planted in the bales have two leaves. The squash that came up in soil at about the same time, are about to flower.

chiele, sometimes the early squashlings do this. I'm sure someone else knows why, but in the few cases I know of, it stopped happening after a little bit.

Think I'll transplant the squash rather than direct seed em in the bales. My cabbage and tomatoes are thriving.

Our tomatoes, peppers, squash, eggplant, gourds, cukes, bush beans, and lettuces are all doing well in the bales; SOMEthing is eating the dragon's-tongue (long speckled) bean plants, but so far is leaving the coco and blue lakes alone. I may try some more of the dragon's tongue as starts indoors and set them out when they're bigger than these were.

I moved the compost last week, over to where the black box will get more sun/heat to help it cook faster; we took the good compost from where it had been sitting, and dug down into the adobe (yon good mud we have as a yard) and planted 2 rounds of pole and runner beans.

Admiring how well Big_Red's onions are doing, we planted radishes and carrots and chard directly into a couple of inches of dirt on top of one bale, and the radishes have sprouted their first pair o' leaves, and the carrots won't be far behind!
We'll see how well it works -- the bale will be far less "crowded" than if they were trying to grow in the cob clay below.

I finally got around to taking some pics of my irregation/feeding system.

Here is the general layout. If I were to start over I would place the bales in a big "U" shape that would accomodate the soaker hose! This way I am wasting a lot of water if I use the soaker hose.

I still have a lot of mushrooms growing in the bales almost every day. There now, you have seen my garden. I am hoping lots of people will post pics of their bale gardens so we can all see the different methods being used.

Onions are still doing very well for the most part, starting to bulb up really good.

hmstyl, your garden looks fabulous!! YES, I have mushrooms also. Don't think I would try them tho. We do pick wild shrooms but I think I would hold off on these. They don't even look appetizing. LOL

Jeanette

hmstyl: what kind of "grow juice" you got in those jugs?

Yeah hmstyl, we want to know!!!!

I made some chicken manure tea - that's what I put in the jugs. I dilute it until it looks about like regular iced tea. Since I fed them last week the plants have almost doubled in size. One of my squash plants has two flowers and a little squash growing already! One of my tomato plants has a flower on it today - yeah! I think my garden was lagging because it needed more nutrition than it was getting in the bales alone. The tea seems to have made a BIG difference.

Big Red - the onions look great! Wish I had thought to stick in some onion seeds in some of my open spaces.

Here is the panoramic view of the garden today. Things are really taking off and we are already eating greens and peppers.

Melinda, your garden is fabulous!!! Good work!! Jeanette

I think I am watering too much and feeding too little. My plants are healthy but still growing very slow even though the weather has warmed up (gotten hot, really).

I have been spraying with a shower wand every morning until the bales are completley soaked.

I have fed with liquid miracle grow for tomatoes twice in the last two weeks.

Has anyone tried sprinkling the tops of the bales with 6-10-10 plant food granules, so that some disolves every time you water? Or would that be to "hot". Please advise!

Mine are not a ball of fire. Growing that is. They finally are budding and I have one blooming but not very big plants even tho we had real hot weather last week. Now it is cold again. I fertilize mine with MG tomato fert once a week but, can't help you. Don't know the answer. Maybe someone will come along and tell us both.

Melinda's are doing good, maybe she will tell us.

Jeantte

Thanks, Jeantte.
Maybe I will try the "jug method" with some compost tea. That sure looks to be working good for HMSTYL in Georgia.

OK here is what has been working for me. First I installed a drip irrigation with some emmitters throughout the entire garden. Next, fertilize with compost tea and alternating fish emulsion. This is doing great on all of the garden plants and flowers.

The greens are extra tasty as they are getting thinned out by making salads for dinner. The tomatoes are getting there could actually have some fried green but I think I might wait until some get ripe first.

Here is a close up of some tomatoes.

Here is some more photos

Thanks Melindahairbows, how often do you apply the compost tea and fish emulsion?

Your garden looks fantastic! Does your drip system just keep the hay barely damp?

Thanks for replying.

I use the fertilizer once a week. The irrigation should leave the bales moist and will be adjusted for your weather. With our heat at 90plus we are watering for about 2 hours. If I check the garden and there is a problem with any of the plants I add more water or water for less time. Also, take into account the rain if you have any.

Think of all of this as an experiment and have fun. Just try to keep the bales moist. I do the finger test to see if they are wet enough. Good luck and hope to see some of your photos soon.

Thank you. I appreciate your information!

Ok, I am trying two different things and both seem to be working:

1) I put a 1/2 inch layer of peat humus on top of half of my bales and then sprinkled some 6-10-10 fertilizer on top of it, so every time I water, some of it disolves down into the bales.

2) I mixed compost tea using composted cow manure and some mushroom compost that also has composted chicken manure in it, and have been using the tea to water the other half of my bales.

Everything has started growing much faster... I think I just needed to feed the plants.
I was concerned the 6-10-10 might burn them, but I applied it in a circle , on top of the peat humus layer, and so far.. so good.

I started this on May 30th , I will just have to wait and see how it goes.

My plants have finally started doing a bit of growing since we have had a nice string of hot days. They still look puny and a bit yellow so I side dressed them with a strip of rabbit manure mush. I guess I will kill them or cure them. LOL The slugs have nearly killed all my peppers and I have not been able to get to the store for slug bait. I had taken the advice on this thread about planting marigolds next to tomatoes to keep out cut worms. I noticed that the slugs were not touching the tomatoes. So I planted marigolds between my peppers as well hoping they will keep the slugs at bay. I have a few cucumbers though the plants are pitiful looking. I have one yellow tomato with a fruit on and one red cherry tomato with one fruit. I do hope they will pick up soon and get busy. At this point, I cannot say my hay bale garden has been a success though it has been a fun experience. I have not lost hope.

Cajun, please splain to me 'a strip of rabbit manure mush'!!! Is that like manure tea?

Straw bale update: My tomatoes are doing GREAT. I've got little baby tomatoes now on most of my plants. I found that I had to get the mineral balance right, and that it was more difficult than in soil, because youre basically just starting from scratch. I supplemented with calcium/magnesium tablets, some poked into the bales and some dissolved in the water bottles to drip in. A week later, they are looking really healthy, and the furled leaves are unrolling, and new growth is coming in healthy. I have continued to use the jobe tomato spikes. The combination is working for me.

I put some manure from under the rabbit cage in a bucket and added enough water to it to make a paste. Then I smeared it on the top of the bale, with a trowel, to one side of the plants. I made sure not to actually touch the plants with the smear. Then I watered the top of the bale and watered the smear into the bale. It didn't all go in with one watering. It takes about a week or so of watering to get it all into the bale. I have no idea if it will make a difference but it seems like it should. We shall see.

Here is a better picture of the smear. This is after it was watered. That is my eggplant and my 2 yellow crook neck squash with their marigold guards.

You know Cajun, I think a manure tea would be better. Or just put the poop on the bale around the plants. I used fresh rabbit manure one time on raspberries. I cleaned out from under the cages at the feed store one year and just dumped it on the plants and then I put about 6 inches of sawdust on top of that. Water, water, water and I cannot tell you how good those plants did that year. Fantastic.

But, I think I would go with tea.

Cajun, I think I see why you did the mush on the bales. Sometimes when I use the tea if I pour too much on the bales it just runs through and out the bottom. Maybe the mush will stay in the bale longer. I am trying to use the tea more frequently, and pour less on so it doesn't get wasted on the ground. My squash sure do love the tea!

But hmstyl, if the tea is running out, you say you are wasting it? But, if Cajun puts the mush on and waters it then when the water runs thru it, isn't that diluting the paste down and wasting it also?

I would love to have rabbit manure. I think that is the only kind, other than maybe bat guano, that doesn't burn when fresh.

I was watering everyday and soaking the bales until the water ran out the bottom. The water was the color of burnt motor oil. I was worried about washing away the nutrients with this method so now I still water each evening or night (unless it rains) but I don't water until it runs through. I also try to mimic a soft rain letting the water fall onto the tops of the bales from above rather than holding the nozzle close to the bale tops. I'll let you know if it makes a difference.

I have tried to figure out if the marigolds have helped deter the slugs from the pepper plants but it is hard to tell because the damage was so extensive. It's like getting a new dent on an old clunker. It's hard to tell the new from the old. Maybe I will be able to tell before long. I have been toying with the idea of taking close up pictures of the individual plants and comparing them with the plants in a weekor 2. Seems like a lot of work though.

Here is a lil testimony to feeding the bales with some kind of fertilizer. The last pic I posted were taken on May 27th. I took this pic last night.

This is the difference in only 10 days!

My tomatoes have lil baby tomatoes on them now. Here is a general pic to help you see the growth spurt.

hmstyl, your squash look great. What sort of fertilizer did you use to perk them up?

I made a fertilizer tea out of chicken manure. When I clean out the chicken coop, I put the droppings into a big plastic garbage can, fill it up with water, put the lid on it and let it sit for about a week. It has been amazing how the plants have really taken off.

Do you use fresh Manure I'm assuming hmstl? I have plenty of that. :0) I was thinking of using some mighty plant on mine... but, the tea might be good too. How much do you use? Like 6 inches in the bottom of the 55 gallon garbage can? More/less?

Where is Kent? He hasn't checked in for a while?

Melissa

yeah, a few inches in the bottom of the trash can, usually about 4" more or less is about what I get each week. Last weekend my DD visited and I gave her a bag of my "super bale booster" so I didn't have the makings for a batch. I have only fed my bales the tea twice now - yesterday and two weeks ago. Yesterday I just dipped a bucket into the garbage can and poured it over the bales. (It was less time consuming than filling up the milk jugs.) I also poured some on my green beans and the peas, and they loved it. I am planning on using it every other week to make sure I don't over do it.

I have also noticed that since I started pouring the tea all over my garden two weeks ago, I haven't seen nearly as many rabbits in there!!