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Posted by tina48 (U1814313) on Saturday, 30th April 2011
I'm growing strawberries for the first time and have read about putting straw under them to keep them off the ground and to deter slugs etc. I have a bag of straw (or it might be hay) in the shed but don't understand how it won't blow away?! It looks quite dry and light, how do I keep it in place? I don't want to spend out on strawberry mats.
Thanks x
The strawbs, as they spread, will help to hold it down. Watering should also had some weight.
"add" some weight, I meant to type. Why isn't there an Edit button?
Make sure it is straw and not hay. Straw is pretty sterile, hay will often contain weed seeds. You can just burn the straw off when berries are finished. It doesn't harm the plants. On GQ some time ago, Bob Flowerdew ( I think) suggested sheets of newspaper in place of straw. I done this ever since. Living in a city bale of hay is hard to come by!
.....a bale of STRAW !
You can buy small packs of compacted straw (barley straw) at pet shops e.g. pets at home and some diy (focus) keep it too but you will be paying about £5-6 per pack.
I'm going to cut round collars out of cornflake boxes, They should last longer than newspaper and not as messy as straw.
Does the use of straw help keep slugs etc off the plants?
Not in my experience. It's a nice soft cushion for them to have a snooze on between raids. On the other hand, it cuts down watering.
, in reply to message 9.
Posted by sparklepinksunflower (U10977805) on Wednesday, 4th May 2011
Not in my experience. It's a nice soft cushion for them to have a snooze on between raids. On the other hand, it cuts down watering. Â
LMAO!!
I have never bothered putting straw under my strawbs, I just use a few slug pellets dont get too many loses. Am I missing out on something?
I mulch to cut down on watering. But then summers here produce weeks of 40+ C.
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