Hay Bale Phobia

Fear In Using Hay Bales

Are you afraid of using hay bales because they might sprout weeds like a chia head and take over your garden? Ever since I have been using hay bales instead of straw bales I've always heard the tale of how bad hay bales are at bringing weeds into our gardens. Here is a sample:

"Make sure you use real straw rather than hay...Hay has lots of seeds inside, which will sprout and could invade your vegetables crops."  

"If you use hay—with all those seed heads intact—as a garden mulch, the seeds will sprout and you'll become an unintentional grain farmer." 

"Hay bales for gardening are less popular as they have the whole stalk and seed heads with mucho seeds. They also often have other weeds and grass seeds to cause trouble."

"I wouldn’t use grass or any other hay. It often has seeds."

You get the idea. Hay bales are bad while straw bales are good. For all the years I have been making bales I have never seen a bale with sprouts. I'm sure there is one. Maybe someone can send me a picture of a chia head type hay bale. 

Why doesn't my hay bale sprout weeds. They are mostly made up of the worse kind of weeds, and yet I haven't had a bale sprout weeds. I know it must be true. Everywhere on the web people tell me so.

Let's look at the science behind hay bales. Most of the bales I use in the garden have been aged. I tried using green bales to grow in but plants will die. When the bale cooks naturally in the sun and even after a rain the temperature within the bale gets extremely hot. Experts say that most hay fires occur within the first six weeks after baling.

Let's learn from the firemen:

http://www.firehouse.com/forums/t107643/

"Wet hay favors the growth of organisms which generate heat and can increase hay temperatures up to 150 degrees F. Once hay heats beyond this point, chemical reactions take over and can increase temperatures to the point of spontaneous combustion. With "wet" hay packed tightly in bales and stacked together in large quantities, fires are very possible. Whether hay which is in this situation actually starts to burn or not depends mostly on the size of the stack and the material surrounding it.

If you suspect that your hay may be heating up, the temperature can be measured and monitored by using the following process:Drive a pointed 2" pipe into a hay bale and lower a thermometer on a string down into the pipe. Wait 10-15 minutes for the temperature to stabilize, then pull it out and read the temperature. Repeat this in several bales. If a thermometer is not readily available, drive a solid metal rod or pipe into the center of the bale and after 15-20 minutes withdraw the rod. If it is too hot to hold in your hand, the situation is critical. The temperature should be determined and appropriate action taken."

Did you catch the degrees? We learned that hay generates a lot of heat. They can get so hot that they start fires. Now I know why my bales never sprout. They reached a point where the seeds in the bales become unviable. If the bale gets hot, the seeds or whatever sprout your bale might have will die.

Seeds are not made out of super-organic materials. They are fragile. They can take only so much heat before they become useless. Again, lets examine the science. 

Temperature

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/temperature-kill-seeds-82867.html

"Seeds begin to die at temperatures above 108 degrees Fahrenheit, but require longer periods of exposure at lower temperatures. At temperatures below 140 degrees Fahrenheit some species are not affected by heat treatments. The most effective way to ensure that you kill all of the seeds is to heat them to a temperature above 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Seeds mixed into compost or topsoil require higher temperatures and longer exposure times than bare, unprotected seeds."

Temperature then means a lot. If you live in the Arctic, then you should perhaps be careful in using hay bales. If you find one under the snow, let it alone. But if you live in a hot place like I do in Missouri then you should have no problems using hay. I always suggest using spoiled hay. Spoiled hay has already aged and been heat treated naturally so you should have no problems using it.