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Old July 11, 2019   #1
cdg
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Default Wheat hay for mulch

Hello , I purchased 20 bales of hay to use as garden mulch and had it delivered 60 miles to my house . As we were unloading I noticed the wheat had not been harvested before it was baled , lots of seed heads . Was delivered for free so I felt obligated to accept . Was 100% my fault for not asking more questions before purchase . Now am wondering if this will create a problem as mulch . Can whatever wheat sprouts be pulled easy enough or is wheat deep rooted ? Would exposing to weather until spring kill the seed heads ? Any thoughts from experience on this matter would be appreciated . Thanks in advance for advice .
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Old July 11, 2019   #2
Worth1
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I would use it anyway.
It wont sprout now and when it does you can just turn it under.
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Old July 11, 2019   #3
brownrexx
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Weathering will not kill the seeds. I use straw not hay for mulch and I get a few weeds that are easy to pull but I don't know about hay. You will probably get a lot of growth.
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Old July 11, 2019   #4
cdg
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thanks for your response . Probably will use and deal with consequences .
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Old July 11, 2019   #5
Worth1
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Wheat is an annual wont sprout till the weather cools anyway.
Dont let it go to seed and your done with it.
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Old July 11, 2019   #6
cdg
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thank you .
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Old July 11, 2019   #7
JosephineRose
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Or treat it as a cover crop?


I grew wheat in my raised beds in my new house this winter as an experiment, just pulled it to harvest in the last few weeks. It was very easy to get out by hand. The gathering and tying of the bundles to protect the heads was what was time consuming, but I was harvesting...


FYI, they didn't start to form heads for me until spring, until then they just looked like long grass. Once they stood up under their own weight the flower heads followed rather quickly. You could just pull the grasses out as they come up.
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Old July 11, 2019   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JosephineRose View Post
Or treat it as a cover crop?


I grew wheat in my raised beds in my new house this winter as an experiment, just pulled it to harvest in the last few weeks. It was very easy to get out by hand. The gathering and tying of the bundles to protect the heads was what was time consuming, but I was harvesting...


FYI, they didn't start to form heads for me until spring, until then they just looked like long grass. Once they stood up under their own weight the flower heads followed rather quickly. You could just pull the grasses out as they come up.

Yeah not a weedy plant at all.
Through natural selection the wheat we grow the head doesn't shatter seeds like the wild plant it came from.
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Old July 12, 2019   #9
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do you have wheat hay or wheat straw? hay is a green cut plant left to dry in the sun and I do not know of farmers cutting the wheat for hay. straw is the wheat that has been harvested once it is mature and has turned brown. the grain separated from the shaft via combining it and the left over shaft is used for straw.
wheat, oats, barley and rye can be used as straw and any left over grain will sprout in the garden. we have used rye before and its a total pain to till under. farmers actually spray it with roundup to kill it off then till it under and it helps to then release the weed killing benefits of it.
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Last edited by clkeiper; July 12, 2019 at 07:19 AM.
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Old July 12, 2019   #10
brownrexx
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Bales of hay look greenish and bales of straw are a golden brownish color.
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Old July 12, 2019   #11
cdg
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Bearded wheat hay is what I purchased . Has wheat heads intact , Was baled last year so it is brownish on outside of bale but greenish when you break into the bales .
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Old July 12, 2019   #12
Whwoz
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Crops of Wheat, Barley, Oats etc are often cut for hay here Down Under if there is something wrong with them, ie weather affected leading to sprouted grain or drought where the farmer is looking to make something off an otherwise worthless crop.
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Old July 12, 2019   #13
PaulF
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Quote:
Originally Posted by clkeiper View Post
. farmers actually spray it with roundup to kill it off then till it under and it helps to then release the weed killing benefits of it.
I would suspect the farmers use a longer lasting herbicide. Round-up quickly becomes benign and would not be useful after a few hours.

I use wheat straw that has been baled after the wheat has been harvested. Not many farmer friends grow wheat around here any more so it is difficult to find. Oat and barley straw is also getting to be rare. A local hardware store gets piles of straw bales and I have had to resort to buying them some years. The store-bought have more weed seeds in them.
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Old July 12, 2019   #14
JosephineRose
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Never said it wasn't weedy.


I said it was easy to pull out by hand - unlike say, the vicious thorny Canadian thisles and dandelions that plague my yard, for example.


I also have no illusions about my wheat baling skills. I am certain some seed heads dropped and will be buried in the mulch.



Quote:
Originally Posted by Worth1 View Post
Yeah not a weedy plant at all.
Through natural selection the wheat we grow the head doesn't shatter seeds like the wild plant it came from.

Last edited by JosephineRose; July 12, 2019 at 01:28 PM.
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Old July 12, 2019   #15
clkeiper
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PaulF View Post
I would suspect the farmers use a longer lasting herbicide. Round-up quickly becomes benign and would not be useful after a few hours.

I use wheat straw that has been baled after the wheat has been harvested. Not many farmer friends grow wheat around here any more so it is difficult to find. Oat and barley straw is also getting to be rare. A local hardware store gets piles of straw bales and I have had to resort to buying them some years. The store-bought have more weed seeds in them.
I guess I didn't explain it far enough. the rye is sprayed with round up. after it is dead they then til it under.
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