Hi, I am going to try growing tomatoes in bales of wheat straw. I've been told I should use some ammonium nitrate to hasten the decomposition of the wheat straw. However, I am having trouble finding any ammonium nitrate. But I do have some ammonium sulfate already. I was just wondering if the sulfate would have similar effect as the nitrate.

They're definitely both used as fertilizer, and they break down and have similar effects. High nitrogen, while lowering the pH of the soil. Ammonium nitrate is harder to find because it's a strong oxidizer and is also used in explosives.

The amonium is what is going to hasten the decomposition of the straw and raise the nitrogen level greatly.