a friend has told me he's going to put straw round his brassicas plants
Q. will straw help keep the weeds at bay?
Q. will straw keep the soil moist round the plants?
Q. will straw stop the slugs ?
I'm thinking of trying this method that's if i can get a bale of straw as its in short supply here so what's your take on this good bad or a complete waste of time and straw
It would certainly keep the weeds at bay and keep the soil moist
but will probably encourage slugs and I'm wondering if it could rob the soil of nitrogen if this is fresh straw we're talking about. When straw rots it absorbes nitrogen for about 3 months. That's if its dug in. I don't know how much it would decompose if just lying on the surface?
Composted straw used with slug pellets or traps might be an answer?
Last year I used grass clippings between the brassicas. I put some ferric phosphate slug killer down first. It certainly kept the weeds down & there didn't seem to be more slugs than usual. The soil was lovely when it came time to put the next crop in.
