Straw mulch and herbicide

[TerraCayda]

I bought a bale of straw out of impulse just because I drove by a feed store. I looked for organic straw locally, but there is none! I need to mulch my plants badly (no rain here) without damaging them. I had a very nice conversation with the store manager, and he told me he has no idea where the wheat was grown but harvest was more likely in last March. He also said lots of backyard farmers use this hay to mulch.

I just found this article that says, half life of "persistent" herbicide takes more than 100 days. How many more days??
https://tendingmygarden.com/garden-mulc ... o-be-safe/

My garden isn't 100% organic (my compost bin has non-organic bananas and anything that must be peeled), but a vast amount of stuff from unknown sources going straight to my garden makes me nervous. I plan to chop up a small amount and use lettuce seeds or something to experiment. What else would you do? Am I too paranoid?

[MissS]

I got hit by Grayzon or a similar herbicide using cow manure so now I am very cautious about what goes into my garden. I mostly just use my own leafs and yard waste now. I did have a couple of straw bales that I had used for Halloween decorations. I let them sit for a year and did the bean test before using them in my gardens,

Beans are extremely susceptible to herbicides. Before putting the straw into your garden, start a bean seed or two and then use the straw in their potting mix and as a mulch. If there are herbicides the seedlings will curl up and die.

[TerraCayda]

Wow. Glad I'm not being TOO paranoid. Beans as in green (string) beans would do? Got green beans and snow peas in my seed box to experiment. If they die, I'll let it sit or dump it in the horse manure and let it compost for a year.

I can get unlimited supply of horse manure, but I know I'm not using it for a year to mix it in with my regular compost with kitchen scrap. I can handle wheat germinating outta straw mulch but not herbicide for sure. Wish I had leaves in the yard! I moved into a house with nothing but 5 very manicured useless Cypress and gravel in the backyard. Not a lot of broad-leaf trees in S. AZ.

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[Paulf]

A couple of years ago I used some locally grown straw for mulch not knowing the farmer used2-4-D. That was a disastrous year for tomatoes and peppers. More than half the plants succommed. All that straw was raked off and destroyed. Even the next year was below average but only a few plants died. 2-4-D half life is months but it still took two years to go away.

[TerraCayda]

So sorry! I'll definitely test this straw first!
I've used Roundup on sidewalks in the past, and it sure was impressively deadly.
Maybe straw should only be for decoration. I'd imagine organic or no-herbicide straw should be readily available from organic farmers, but seriously I found zero in town. I'm tempted to invest in heavy duty paper shredder and use Amazon cardboard boxes.

[zeuspaul]

Cardboard can be used without shredding.

I stopped buying hay more than ten years ago due to fears of herbicide contamination. Also I am careful with bagged steer manure.

Horse manure can also contain herbicides. If you know the *unlimited supply* is safe I would max out on that.

I mulch my container rows with weeds and trimmings. I walk over them as I walk the rows.

For mulch in the containers I like a good quality bark groundcover (nuggets). The same product from the same seller can have vastly different quality. I bought a bag of groundcover bark and it was nothing but wood shavings. The same product a month later was bark nuggets and a lot of fine grain material. I also use 3+/- inch rock or Kellogg Garden Organics Patio Plus Premium Outdoor Organic Potting Mix.

Welcome to The Junction.

[GoDawgs]

A long time ago I used to buy bales of wheat straw from the local feed & seed for mulching my veg beds until one year I noticed a decline in any plants mulched with it. That's when I learned about the herbicide thing, It was just getting started at the time. About the same time the garden was expanding and the cost per bale was getting higher than I wanted to pay anyway. With a ton of trees on the property it made sense to buy a bagger for the riding mower and hoover up my own leaves to use as mulch and we do.

Due to a bacterial wilt in the garden here that affects only the tomatoes, I pot them in 15 gallon nursery containers. In Spring '23 the company I always bought my potting mix from was going out of business and only had their homemade compost left so that's what I bought. It curled up the tomatoes and the extension agent identified it as herbicide damage. Most likely from tainted manure is my guess. So I dumped all the buckets of that soil in a pile and left it to the rain and sun for a year. Last spring the bean test showed it was OK so I mixed it in with potting mix from another source and everything did really well.

We built a four compartment composting area where all the good kitchen waste, leaves and the used potting soil are turned together. This year I'll have enough for the 18 tomato plants I grow.

If a seller can't vouch (and sign a statement to that effect ) that their hay or straw is herbicide-free, they can keep it. Besides, I'm now saving money so they can keep it anyway! I'll buy more garden toys.

[TerraCayda]

If a seller can't vouch (and sign a statement to that effect ) that their hay or straw is herbicide-free, they can keep it. Besides, I'm now saving money so they can keep it anyway! I'll buy more garden toys.

I had never seen a bale of straw, so it was totally an impulse buy !
I always had enough broad leaves and my own compost, but all I got in this new home is Cypress & gravel. Soooo out of desperation for gentler than wood chip mulch, straw sounded good. I'll test it with peas and find out. If it's a no-go, I guess I'll just wrap it in a tarp and forget about it for a couple of years LOL.

[Kurt]

Our feed store here in Homestead(Robbie’s Feed) has Wheat Bedding Straw grown herb free for the plenty of Equestrian businesses here.It comes from farms in Kentucky.

[Tim DH]

The main problem we’ve had in the UK has been with Aminopyralid.

This webpage puts the Government's point of view on the subject:

https://www.hse.gov.uk/pesticides/using ... aining.htm

I haven't seen any damage for a few years, so maybe the restrictions put in place are now working. The earlier restrictions certainly didn't work!

Tim DH