Does Wheat Straw Make Good Mulch?

There are many types of mulch that serve different purposes, some of which work better with some plants than others. Wheat straw mulch is an excellent mulch for vegetable crops, though any straw mulch will also work.

Wheat straw mulch is an excellent mulch for cool weather crops. Straw mulch will keep the soil around your plants cooler than black plastic mulch. Straw mulch also lets water reach the soil, making it easier to keep your vegetables well irrigated. The use of wheat straw as a mulch is also an excellent way to reuse an otherwise useless section of the wheat plant.

Wheat seeds are the largest problem with wheat straw mulch. You will find that you have to weed out wheat plants growing in your garden with your vegetables if the seed heads on the wheat straw have not been completely removed. Straw mulches also don't work very well for warm weather crops, such as tomatoes and peppers, because the mulch doesn't heat the soil, and, in fact, it usually cools the soil 10 to 15 degrees.

Straw mulch is best used on cool weather crops such as the brassicas, or broccoli, cabbage and cauliflowers. It will also work well for lettuces and greens, though you will have to be careful to pull any wheat plants out that sprout in case they grow too high and provide too much shade for your crops.