Strulch
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Primrose
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Has anybody used Strulch, which is apparently a mineralised wheat straw garden mulch? I see it is being sold for £6 for a 100 litre bag which will cover up to 3 square metres and I'm trying to decide whether this would be be an alternative to buying the usual composted stable manure which I use. I know mulch and manure perform different tasks but if I can only afford one, which choice should I make for my light rather stoney soil?
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oldherbaceous
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Dear Primrose, i have never used Strulch before, but i would have thought the composted stable manure would have a higher content of nutrients in it, and also would be more decomposed so not rotting down to a smaller amount.
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.
There's no fool like an old fool.
There's no fool like an old fool.
Hello Primrose
I've never heard of Strulch but if you just want a mulch why not simply use straw. Round here you could get at least two bales for £6 and that's delivered. That will cover a lot more than 3m². I use it mainly for bedding in the chicken house but also in the veg garden for covering new potatoes (instead of earthing up), under squash, strawberries and bush tomatoes and around leafy veg to stop soil splashing. Its easy to clear up at the end of the season then added to the heap to make compost for next season.
John
PS I'm convinced it helps ripening of fruits because of the light it reflects back up to the fruit.
PPS The only problem is that its a good hiding place for slugs and mice!
PPS It looks so nice!!!
I've never heard of Strulch but if you just want a mulch why not simply use straw. Round here you could get at least two bales for £6 and that's delivered. That will cover a lot more than 3m². I use it mainly for bedding in the chicken house but also in the veg garden for covering new potatoes (instead of earthing up), under squash, strawberries and bush tomatoes and around leafy veg to stop soil splashing. Its easy to clear up at the end of the season then added to the heap to make compost for next season.
John
PS I'm convinced it helps ripening of fruits because of the light it reflects back up to the fruit.
PPS The only problem is that its a good hiding place for slugs and mice!
PPS It looks so nice!!!
The Gods do not subtract from the allotted span of men’s lives, the hours spent fishing Assyrian tablet
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
I am a man and the world is my urinal
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
I am a man and the world is my urinal
Johnboy, do you use ANY straw or organic (no, I don't want to start a discussion on O and non-O again!)? I am only asking because I would be worried that the field might have been treated with a herbicide against dicotyledons and therefore damage my precious veggies. Strulch is apparently produced from straw on which no herbicides have been used though I don't think it is meant as an alternative to FYM, only, as the name implies, as a mulch.
Hi Monika,
All the straw I produce has been sprayed and has been for years and all the FYM is full of straw that has been sprayed and I can assure you that I have never ever had any difficulties.
You see masses of spray going onto crops but the vast majority of what you see is simply water.
The active ingredient may only be 1 litre per Hectare
which as you will realise is an incredibly small amount. I have no doubt that if tested my straw would test positive but by the time it is harvested
I feel the effect has virtually disappeared.
Pesticides are only used if the need arises and mainly what we use are fungicides. Herbicides are used on the field margins only and in places where black grass or thistles have crept into the cropping area and then it is local spraying prior to ploughing this is carried out by me using a knapsack spray unit.
I really see no hazard in using simple non organically produced straw.
JB.
All the straw I produce has been sprayed and has been for years and all the FYM is full of straw that has been sprayed and I can assure you that I have never ever had any difficulties.
You see masses of spray going onto crops but the vast majority of what you see is simply water.
The active ingredient may only be 1 litre per Hectare
which as you will realise is an incredibly small amount. I have no doubt that if tested my straw would test positive but by the time it is harvested
I feel the effect has virtually disappeared.
Pesticides are only used if the need arises and mainly what we use are fungicides. Herbicides are used on the field margins only and in places where black grass or thistles have crept into the cropping area and then it is local spraying prior to ploughing this is carried out by me using a knapsack spray unit.
I really see no hazard in using simple non organically produced straw.
JB.
Hello Monika
I must say I've never given this much thought. Like Johnboy I would think that any residues, if there are any, in the straw must be at such an immeasurably low level by the time I get to use the stuff that there can't be a problem. I've been using it this way for years and never had any problems. My assumption is that all agri-chemicals in sprays used these days are biodegradable and don't persist for more than a few months if that.
The farm shop that I get it from get their supplies from a few local farms and I assume its not organic.
John
PS The shop tell me that it is not as easy for them to get the traditional size bale of straw as so many farms now gather it as giant rolls or giant compacted bales.
I must say I've never given this much thought. Like Johnboy I would think that any residues, if there are any, in the straw must be at such an immeasurably low level by the time I get to use the stuff that there can't be a problem. I've been using it this way for years and never had any problems. My assumption is that all agri-chemicals in sprays used these days are biodegradable and don't persist for more than a few months if that.
The farm shop that I get it from get their supplies from a few local farms and I assume its not organic.
John
PS The shop tell me that it is not as easy for them to get the traditional size bale of straw as so many farms now gather it as giant rolls or giant compacted bales.
The Gods do not subtract from the allotted span of men’s lives, the hours spent fishing Assyrian tablet
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
I am a man and the world is my urinal
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
I am a man and the world is my urinal