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Dick Adams[_2_] · 07-01-2012, 08:17 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible

wrote:
(Dick Adams) wrote:

....
Thanks - I'm considering tomatoes. The management of my house
wants them planted in area she has assigned to me for gardening
because she thinks they will be top heavy.

As for the problem with your tomato plants, my initial questions a
1. Was there enough well-composted soil in the straw bale?
2. Were the straw bales adequately soaked and fertilized?
3. Did the plants get enough sunlight?
....

There was no compost of any kind in the straw. They were soaked and
fertilized and had plenty of sun. The bale was placed between my 2
raised strip bed gardens so it was able to utilize the irrigation
system as well as the sun. To be fair, I have not had very good luck
with tomatoes in any way shape or form in this garden so I can't be
sure that the bale had anything to do with it. When I did pull the
plants out I did notice that the root structure was not as vast as
usual. There were hardly any of the tiny filler (finger?) roots. Maybe
the straw was too dense for them to grow.

I have yet to try straw bales, but everything I have read says that
well-composted soil is necessary. Think of a straw bale as a container
that soil will eventually break down into compost.

Dick