By Kent Rogers| March 2007

• Intro
• Preparing for Planting
• How Many Plants Per Bale?
• Final Tips
• About Kent Rogers
• Download the FULL article as a

Final Tips

I used Liquid Miracle Gro twice a week. Use a watering can or get an applicator that waters the plants and fertilizes at the same time. It’s almost impossible to over-fertilize with Miracle Gro, but be careful with granular fertilizer like 10-10-10.

The bales will start to sprout wheat or oat straw, but that is no problem. If the grass gets too much for you, just whack it off with a knife. I give my bales a “haircut” every so often with a steak knife. It takes no time at all.

Over the past two years, I used pesticides only once on my plants. I had to use some Liquid Sevin on my okra against Japanese beetles. The rest of my plants were pest-free. I also had a good crop of ladybugs, which is a good thing. Maybe it has something to do with the plants being off the ground.

Be prepared to use new bales each year. You may get two years of service out of the bales, but I like starting with fresh bales. This year I’m using the old bales to see how potatoes grow in them.

I highly recommend visiting the Vegetable Garden section at
www.davesgarden.com. I started a very popular forum on straw bale gardening with other bale gardeners from all over the U.S. and Canada. You’ll find a lot of photos and a tremendous amount of information on this subject.