Reviewed by Dimitry S.
Verified Buyer
I recommend this product
First time organic
Wasn’t sure how much to put kind of did it by eye working well no bugs no nothing keeping the soil moist
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BuildASoil | SKU:
BS102
Certified Organic Straw Mulch
Rated 4.9 out of 5
Regular price
$29.00
Unit price
Certified Organic Straw Mulch - 1/2 Cubic Foot is backordered and will ship as soon as it is back in stock.
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Quality First
Quality First
BuildASoil is committed to sourcing the highest quality ingredients you can trust. over 10,000 Five Star Reviews and over a decade in business
Delivery and Shipping
Delivery and Shipping
Shipping Policy
Shipping is expensive, and it gets more expensive almost every year. We are not going to pretend otherwise. What we can tell you is that we work hard to find the most reliable and affordable way to get your order to you, and we pass along free shipping wherever it makes sense.
Free shipping on any order with two or more items. The one exception is bulk items, meaning the large or heavy products that have to move by freight or oversized parcel. If your cart qualifies, free shipping is applied automatically at checkout.
Why two items and not a dollar amount?
Most stores set free shipping at a dollar threshold. That works when you sell light things like clothing. We don't. We ship soil, amendments, and heavy real goods that are expensive and awkward to move, so a dollar minimum doesn't reflect what shipping actually costs us.
We are a small business with no outside financial backing, and we are not Amazon. We manufacture, pack, and ship everything in house so we can control quality, which means real people picking, boxing, taping, and labeling every order, and that means real jobs. When we ship a single item for free, the only way to cover it is to raise prices across the board, and we would rather not do that. Asking for two or more items on free orders lets us keep prices lower for everyone and keep shipping sustainable. We hate high shipping costs as much as you do, and this is the fairest way we have found to keep them down.
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Same standard transit, but we push it out the door the same day when we can.
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Certified Organic Straw Mulch - 1/2 Cubic Foot is backordered and will ship as soon as it is back in stock.
Description
Description
Certified organic wheat straw
Cover the soil. That is the whole job.
Mulch is not optional in a living soil. Bare soil dries out, crusts over, and the top inch stops working. You can cover it with almost anything and be better off than leaving it open.
So here is the honest version. If you have clean leaves, spent cover crop, or straw from a farm you trust, use it. We sell this for the growers who want to know exactly what is going on top of a soil they spent real money on. It is certified organic wheat straw from one local farm, never sprayed, and the certificate is on file if you need it.
4.9from 537 ratings
95%would recommend
3box sizes, plus bulk
1farm, by the truckload
Why it matters
What is happening at the surface
The surface is where a living soil is built or lost. Straw is the carbon half of that equation. Chopped cover crop and trimmed leaves are the nitrogen half. Put them together on top of the soil and the whole layer stays biologically active instead of baking.
Straw
1/2 to 1 in
1/2 to 1 in
The carbon blanket
Slows evaporation, buffers the temperature swing at the surface, and keeps the top of the soil dark and damp between waterings. This is the part you can see.
Chop
and drop
and drop
Greens meet browns
Cut cover crop or fan leaves laid into the straw give you nitrogen rich material sitting against carbon rich material. That combination is what actually gets broken down and returned to the soil.
Working
layer
layer
Where the work gets done
Worms, fungi, and everything smaller stay up in the litter when it is covered and moist. Leave the surface bare and dry and they retreat down, which is why bare pots feed so much worse than mulched ones.
Root zone
Roots follow the food
Feeder roots run right up into the surface litter when it stays damp. That is the delivery route for anything you top dress.
Cross section of a mulched container. Depths shown are typical, not a rule.
Read the bag
Most mulch is something else with mulch written on it
We are not going to tell you that our straw grows better plants than the straw down the road. What we will tell you is what is in the common alternatives, because a lot of it ends up on top of soil that people are very careful about in every other respect.
Dyed bagged mulch
The dye is cosmetic. It keeps a landscape bed looking uniform, which is a perfectly good reason to buy it for a shrub border. It is a landscape product doing a landscape job. It is not made for a container you plan to eat out of, and that is the only question that matters here.
Ground wood and pallets
Cheap bagged wood mulch, dyed or not, is often ground pallets and construction scrap. Pallets are heat treated or chemically treated depending on where they came from, and reclaimed lumber can be anything. There is no sorting that out once it is chips in a bag. Around a shrub, fine. On top of soil growing food or cannabis, we would not.
Conventional straw
Straw is a byproduct, so it carries whatever was applied to the grain crop. Growers have been running into persistent herbicide residue on hay and straw for years. Certification is the paper trail that says it was not sprayed.
Where it comes from
One local farm, bought by the truckload
Certified organic wheat straw. We buy monster bales by the full truckload from a local farm and store them on pallets under hay tarps so what you get is dry and clean, not the bottom of a bale that sat in the weather.
Every box is broken down and packed by hand out of those bales. If local supply ever moves us to another cereal straw, we will say so right here.
It is compressed, not fluffed. Baled straw is under real pressure and we do not fluff it before it goes in the box. A box holds noticeably more than it looks like it should once you pull it apart.
That is also why it is worth opening it into a tub before you spread it.
Two things you should know before you buy it
It has seeds in it and some of them will sprout. This is real straw, not a sterilized product, so you will get volunteer grass coming up through the layer. Deal with it early. Pluck the shoots while they are small, or turn the straw over on top of them and smother them. Left alone it gets clumpy and grows fast, and then you are pulling established root balls out of a mulch layer you would rather not disturb. If you want living roots at the surface on purpose, that is what a cover crop is for.
You may find thistle in it. Organically grown straw is produced with limited options for keeping other plants out of the field, so a hardy volunteer occasionally rides along in a bale. Thistle is prickly. Wear gloves when you are handling and spreading it.
Sizes and coverage
How much you need
| Size | At 1/2 inch, with cover crop | At 1 inch, no cover crop | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1/2 cubic foot | 12 sq ft | 6 sq ft | A small tent, a handful of fabric pots, houseplants |
| 1 cubic foot | 24 sq ft | 12 sq ft | The size most people reorder |
| 2 cubic foot | 48 sq ft | 24 sq ft | Raised beds, a full tent, mulching everything at once |
Square footage is straight math on the boxed volume, so treat it as a floor. The straw goes in compressed and we do not fluff it before packing, so a box opens up to more than the number says. Going deeper than an inch is fine, it just covers less ground. Mulching a whole outdoor garden? Buy it locally by the bale, or look at bulk sizing here.
How that translates to your pots
What matters is the soil surface, not the gallons. A wide short pot takes more straw than a tall narrow one holding the same volume. Diameters below are Grassroots Living Soil Pots.
| Pot | Soil surface | Pots per 1 cu ft box at 1/2 in | Pots per 1 cu ft box at 1 in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 gallon | 1.1 sq ft, 14 in across | About 22 | About 11 |
| 10 gallon | 1.4 sq ft, 16 in across | About 17 | About 8 |
| 15 gallon | 1.8 sq ft, 18 in across | About 13 | About 6 |
| 20 gallon | 2.2 sq ft, 20 in across | About 11 | About 5 |
| 30 gallon | 3.1 sq ft, 24 in across | About 7 | About 3 |
Beds are simpler. Multiply length by width. A 4 by 8 bed is 32 square feet, which one 2 cubic foot box covers at half an inch with room to spare.
How to use it
Four steps, and one that people miss
1
Wet it before you spread it
Dump the box into a tub or a five gallon bucket and moisten it with plain water. It knocks the dust down, it stops the straw from blowing around, and it is much easier to place.
2
Half an inch with cover crop, an inch without
If you are seeding a cover crop, keep it to about half an inch so the seedlings can push through. If you are not, go a full inch. Deeper is fine if you want it, and outdoors deeper is usually better, since wind and sun pull moisture off an exposed surface much faster than they do in a tent. Cover the whole surface out to the edge of the container either way. Gaps are where it dries out.
3
Top dress straight through it
This is the one people ask about. Do not pull the mulch off to feed. Sprinkle your amendment over the top of the straw and wiggle it down through the layer with your fingers until it reaches the soil surface, then water it in. The straw stays put, the food gets where it is going, and you have not disturbed the layer you spent weeks building.
4
Chop and drop into it
When your cover crop gets tall or you are trimming fan leaves, cut it and lay it right on the straw. Greens on top of browns. That is the layer building itself without you buying anything else.
Transparency
Documentation
We publish what we have and we say plainly what does not apply. If you need a document for a compliance file, ask us and we will send it.
Organic certification, wheat strawCertificate from the growing farm covering this crop
Available on request
Safety data sheetWheat straw, unprocessed plant material
Not applicable
Heavy metal panelStraw is crop residue, not a mineral input. Heavy metals come into a garden through rock powders, phosphates, and some manures. Plant material runs very low, so there is nothing meaningful to find here and we do not run a panel on it.
Not tested
Questions we actually get
Before you ask support
Grass is sprouting in my pots. Did I get a bad batch?
No, you got real straw. Straw carries seed and some of it germinates once it is sitting on warm damp soil. Do not leave it. Cereal grass grows fast and clumps up, and the longer you wait the more root you are tearing out of your mulch layer when you finally deal with it. Pluck the shoots while they are young, or flip the straw over on top of them and let it smother them. If you want something green growing at the surface on purpose, seed a cover crop that is meant for it.
How do I top dress once the straw is already down?
Sprinkle the amendment on top of the straw and work it down through the layer with your fingers until it hits the soil, then water it in. Do not rake the mulch off and start over. Same answer for worm castings, though with castings it helps to water a little more thoroughly so they settle onto the surface rather than hanging up in the straw.
There is thistle in my box.
It happens. Certified organic production means the farm has limited tools for keeping volunteers out of the field, so a prickly one occasionally makes it into a bale. Wear gloves when you spread it. If a box has more than a stray piece or two, email support and tell us.
Is this enough straw for what I paid?
The straw is compressed when it is baled and we do not fluff it before boxing, so the box is denser than it looks. Open it into a tub and pull it apart before you decide. That said, if you are mulching a large outdoor garden, we would rather tell you the truth: buy a bale from a farm near you. Shipping air is expensive and we are not the cheapest way to cover a lot of ground. This makes sense for containers, beds, and growers who need certified organic material.
Will it mold?
You will sometimes see white fungal growth in the straw layer, especially in a humid tent. That is fungal decomposition doing exactly what you put carbon on the surface for. It is normal in a mulched living soil.
How often do I need to add more?
Usually not until the next cycle. One good layer at the start carries most of a run, and it is supposed to thin out as it goes. That material is being eaten and handed back to the soil, which is the whole reason it is there. The exception is if you are lasagna mulching on purpose, stacking straw over greens over straw as you chop and drop through the round. Otherwise mulch once, then mulch again when you reset the container.
Pairs with
What people add next
Craft Blend nutrient pack
The dry amendment that goes down through the straw. Sprinkle it on, wiggle it through to the soil with your fingers, water it in.
BuildAFlower top dress
The compost half of the standard top dress, and the flower stage partner to Craft Blend. Amendments need something to break them down, and this is what does it.
Clover cover crop blend
Twelve species, about 60 percent clover, sized small enough for containers. This is where your greens come from. Grow it, cut it, drop it on the straw.
Rootwise Mycrobe Complete
Bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi for the soil under the mulch. Covered, moist surfaces are where that biology stays active.
Stop looking at bare soil
If you have been meaning to mulch since the last time you looked in the tent, that is today.
Need more than a few boxes? Bulk sizing is here.
Specifications
Specifications
-
Length (in)
-
Width (in)
-
Height (in)
Questions?
We are here to help and our entire staff knows how to grow. Just reach out via chat, email or even phone. We are passionate about growing and want you to succeed.
Payment & Security
Payment methods
Your payment information is processed securely. We do not store credit card details nor have access to your credit card information.
Based on 538 ratings
95%
of reviewers would recommend this product to a friend
Customer photos and videos
538 Reviews
Reviewed by Patrick D.
Verified Buyer
I recommend this product
Straw mulch
Good clean straw
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Reviewed by John A.
Verified Buyer
I recommend this product
Straw mulch
Worked like it should
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Reviewed by Benny
Verified Buyer
I recommend this product
Straw
Not only makes the grow look cool but keeps the soil moist and gives cover for the worms to work the top dress
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Reviewed by Eric K.
Verified Buyer
I recommend this product
Mulch
After I chop and drop I apply a nice layer of straw mulch that keeps my soil at the optimal moisture level.
Great product that does what it's supposed too.
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Rated 4.9 out of 5
