Please look closely at the photos.
The ole story, you get what you pay for. Well, since I didn't pay for these, they were free, I didn't get squat! I actually lost on these as all my transplants died. Boo Hoo!!!! My wonderful strawberries are gone with the exception of one row that I haven't transplanted yet.
So, Kent, I guess we bothed learned something here.
This message was edited Sep 4, 2009 1:02 PM
A close up of one of the orchard grass bales
A close up of the wheat straw bale. Mind you this one is two years old. The orchard grass was 2-3 MONTHS old
Just wondering, if all the plants died in the orchard grass that quickly, I wonder if it had something to do with residual herbicides in the grass bales?
Because I don't see any reason why orchard grass wouldn't be OK, too.
Seems like every other grass/hay bale has gotten good reviews.
Jan, if you get a chance, ask your supplier of the orchard grass if they treated the bales with anything.
Well, she has horses and the bales got damp so that is why she gave them to me. I would assume that if they were for feed they wouldn't be treated with anything. Its just that they decomposed so fast. However there are a few things still growing in them. I just can't see them making it to next season. You can see in the photo that they are just collapsing like they have been sat on or something.
Jan, my bales were advertised as orchard grass/alfalfa. I asked about it and he said 40% alfalfa. Well, it seemed to take a real long time decomposing to the point that I could get my plants in it. But, by now, I would have to say it has decomposed at about the same rate as the strawbales in the past. I don't see all that much difference in the plants from this or the straight straw as far as the plants go and maybe I expected better things from this but not more produce either. Maybe I didn't fertilize as much this year because of my expectations. Don't remember.
Jeanette
My problem is that they are already decomposing to the point that the string is falling off. Now that is way too fast. My other bales lasted two years. Were talking two months with these. Oh well, live and learn.
Yeah, that is too bad. Have you tried regular hay?
Well, I'm not sure what the difference is between straw and hay but in my opinion I will stick to the wheat straw bales. They held up the best and I don't want to take the chance of losing any more plants.
Gotta go with what works for you.
DANG IT!!! Just got nail by a yellow jacket. WHEW! It got just under the leg of my shorts and I was touching up the trim on my house so when I grabed my shorts I put hand prints all over my shorts just trying to knock away the yellow jacket. He didn't want to let go and held on. He actually took a bite out of me. I AM NOT A HAPPY CAMPER JUST NOW!!!!
First time I have been stung by a yellow jacket in years. I have been stung by scorpions when we lived in AZ several times and believe me I will take a yellow jacket anyday. Scorpions feel like you've been shot I think. Never been shot but it must be real close to a scorpion sting.
Jan, I had that same thing happen. Got one up the leg of my shorts. Just not while I was painting tho. Then I used an Epipen in my leg. My leg got hard as a rock. Don't know if it was from the bee or the Epi. Yes, they do hurt.
Those yellow jackets are hard-core! My mama got lit up today, too! Said she did the watusi trying to get out of their range and knock them off at the same time!!
Okay, now what do I do. I have a little pus pocket where it stung me. Should I open it or just leave it alone.
Jan, did you take any benedryl? Guess I assumed you did or I would have said something before after hours. Is the stinger still in there? I don't know what to do with the pus pocket. I suppose not knowing, I would probably stick it with a needle and drain it. But, that doesn't make it right.
Call your dr. or clinic, or whatever you have tomorrow.
Jeanette
Okay, I did drain it. There wasn't a stinger in there. I put some benedryl spray on it when it happened. I put some peroxide on it when i drained it. I know this all sounds so gross. Sorry. I am going to live, heheh, I am just a big baby when it comes to these things. I guess I shouldn't freak out so much. It's just that I get scared when things like this happen because I always get so sick from just silly little things. I just have such a weak immune system do to my liver diease. Like the incident earlier this year with my face. We never did discover what caused that. Thanks Janette
I think you still should call your dr. tomorrow anyway Jan. Don't you have any benedryl pills? You should get some tomorrow. Call the doc. Then let us know what he/she says. What liver disease? I know what you mean though. I am the same way. 6 years ago I had a double perforated bowel. They lost me twice but I am still here. Kept coming back.
So,I am spooky too.
Jeanette
Jan, do you have Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance by any chance? If so you can always call the nurse. 24/7. I have done that before. They are real good.
Jeanette
Hope your yellow jacket sting has gotten better! They sure are nasty things!
I want to thank you,Gourdbeater, for bringing our attention to the possible problems with orchard grass. A few weeks ago I started buying bales of hay from the same vendor where I get my straw bales. I noticed he was now offering hay bales for $1 more so decided to do a comparison next year. I never thought to ask what the hay bales consisted of as I though hay was pretty much "hay"! Well, duh, I should have read this thread sooner! Today the vendor whose son grows and delivers the straw and hay to his place was there (one just usually picks up what one wants and throws the money into a box here) and told me the hay was either orchard grass, orchard grass and timothy mixed, or just timothy. He never knew which kind his son would deliver. So I asked how I would know the difference and he showed me at least what timothy grass looks like. I checked at home and know the top two hay bales have some timothy in them but I haven't checked those underneath. I am hoping that the timothy/orchard grass mix will perform similarly to the orchard/alfalfa mix Jnette used. Any ideas on this?
I think I will plant eggplants and peppers in the bales that don't have any timothy so if they decompose too fast the plants should sink better than the tomatoes!! I figure I can keep adding old decomposed straw from this year on top of the hay bale as it sinks! It will all be part of the great experiment! But now I know to ASK!! LOL
To tell you the truth, I don't think there was that much difference between the straw and the "hay" that I got. It was supposedly 40% alfalfa. I doubt it. But I don't think there is going to be that much difference between the orchard grass and the timothy.
My theory being the Timothy and the orchard grass are about the same composition, other than possibly the nutritional value aren't they? What is orchard grass? Just craP grass without weeds? Gardadore, if you look at my post way near the top of this thread, you will see that I am not very impressed with what I got.
Jeanette
Well, I'm stuck with the 6 bales now so I will continue the experiment next year. According to Penn State "Orchardgrass is a versatile grass and can be used for pasture, hay, green chop, or silage. A high-quality grass, it will provide excellent feed for most classes of livestock."
It is often grown with alfalfa. I'm surprised it didn't work as well for you since the alfalfa should have provided good nitrogen. So I guess it's not "crap" as a feed grass but could be a nuisance for us with the seeds. I will put the hay next to the straw bales and plant the same in each to see it it makes a difference. My biggest concern is getting the seeds in my garden since it is a perennial grass with a good root system! Well, weeding keeps me limber!!!!
I thought it should have also. But, it may have been why it decomposed so fast once it started. Just took a long time getting started. I didn't have any problem with it seeding down tho. I said it might be a good nutrient for catttle. If nothing else it will still be good mulch for winter protection .
Okay, I am giving it another try. I have replanted what was left of my strawberries and added the old strawbale hay into the pockets I made for the plants. I then added some of the old bale to the top of the orchard grass. Keep your fingers crossed for me. If it works YEA if not well I just have to start fresh next year.
So we won't know until spring if it works or not. Oh well, I'm not going anywhere.
Gourdbeader,
Do you add any potting mix when you plant the strawberries in the bales? That might help keep the roots from drying out while they acclimate to the straw or hay. Using old straw or hay is also good especially when it has broken down to a compost consistency or a nice moist mulch. I just planted some currant bushes and used this summer's broken down straw bales/ potting soil mix combo as a compost. It is just beautiful to work with after this rainy summer. I'm afraid to use this year's decomposed bales again for tomatoes, potatoes, or eggplant after the Late Blight problems so must use them for compost and mulch with other crops.
You have me curious about planting some strawberries in the used straw or hay! I think I will recycle some of the old "tomato" bales for that since I have tons of runners I could experiment with. Next year's tomatoes will go into new hay and straw bales rather than recycled ones.
I'm really curious to see how things go next summer with the hay, the old straw and tomatoes. I hope this is the last of the Late Blight around here for a while!
Gardadore, what was the blight like? A couple of my plants had a lot of blossom end rot. But that is not the same as blight.
Jeanette
I usually don't add soil except on the top a little. They have always done so well before. We shall see.
Sorry to hear about the blight.
Jan
Jan,
I never add "soil", that is anything from the garden, but rather bagged potting MIX. I understand I could introduce bacteria problems into the bales if I used regular soil. The potting mix helps to give a solid base for the roots to get a hold and fills in the space after pulling out the straw for planting.
Jeanette,
The blight hit after the plants were producing to beat the band. I returned home from a two week vacation to find some of the plants with dried black leaves but didn't know about the late blight at that point. The tomatoes seemed to be doing fine, though. Eventually as time went on the green tomatoes all over the garden began to get a disgusting rot which I can't describe but the Internet and Dave's Garden is full of terrific photos. I had to throw them all away but did get some really nice tomatoes before this all took hold. I have 3 areas for tomatoes and it eventually affected all three areas so I know it had to be air borne. In general the tomato plants fared poorly due to all the cold and rain we had this summer. It was quite a big loss for me as I had had to buy plants this year instead of starting seed. These plants all came from reputable vendors, one recommended by Carolyn so I believe the blight was air borne rather than imported, but I will never know for sure! I had over 50 plants! It was heartbreaking to watch some of the largest green tomatoes I had ever grown (esp. those in the bales) get this stuff. In some cases in the early stages I could cut it away and fry the rest of the green. But I understand it will not winter over so have been bagging and burying the stalks and tomatoes. I was luckier than many, who lost everything. I at least got to eat many before and even during the blight. Matt's Wild Cherry is the only one that continues to churn out ripe tomatoes without a blemish! So we can only hope for better luck next year in all departments!
What a terrible thing to happen. I would doubt that it was the vendor since the plants had survived long enough to get tomtoes on them. Or were they that big when you got them? I would imagine you are right and maybe got it from a neighbor or even farther away.
I would think you should burn the plants, can you do that? I wonder if you got it from the strawbales? The problem is, that you should not plant tomatoes in that same area for many years. You should tallk to Digger (Sally) about that. She got it last year in GA.
I think she treated her area and was able to re=use it this year?? Ask her.
Jeanette
This message was edited Sep 19, 2009 8:07 PM
As I understand it this late blight will not winter over in bales or soil in my climate except on a potato that one didn't dig up. We are told to pull any volunteer potato plants next year just in case. The first and worst affected tomato plants were the ones I put in new straw bales so the bales were not the culprit. It's the same blight as the potato one that destroyed the Irish crops. We are told to either bury the stuff two feet or put them in plastic bags in the sun which will kill the fungus. A number of my tomatoes also just never grew at all due to the cold and rain even before the blight hit. The blight was prevalent all over New England and in NY and PA. Everyone hopes it was a one time deal because of the unusual weather! I have a "non" compost pile ( a pile of debris which decomposes but is never used in the gardens) where I can bury the tomatoes and stalks. As I mentioned above I will be using the used straw bales in the garden with other veggies or fruits like raspberries, blueberris and currants and using only new ones for tomatoes next summer. So let's pray for a more "normal" summer next year!!
I sure hope that takes care of your problem. Jeanette
