do a search dear, and you will find TONS of people using alfalfa tea. At the bottom of the page you will find a search feature. Alfalfa tea is very popular because it WORKS. Have fun!!

Tammy, I still use it every year. I try to soak my cubes for a while and sort of pour/dump the undisolved cubes and liquid right at the base. I cannot tell you anything about seeping or making tea.

Carla

We make it in a 32-G trash can (with a lid).
DH throws in maybe a 2-lb coffee-can of alfalfa meal (by preference) and fills the trash can with water.

10-days to a couple of weeks is enough time in our cool climate. DH stirs it occasionally with a rake or shovel.

We dilute the stuff by about half with water, and give each full-size rose a couple of gallons. We throw the sludge at the bottom on some deserving plants as extra mulch.

It's a tad stinky -- but that dissipates quickly. Great stuff!

Jeri

Tammy - I remember seeing a post last year where someone put the cubes in pantyhose and made a tea because they didn't want to deal with scooping out the stinky gunk. That way you can just put the alfalfa on the plants without scooping. I think I'll do it that way this year. I'm short, so a big trash can is hard for me to reach way down into.
-terry

I only used it once, I like applying the meal directly to the soil better. I made it in a trash can and I did put the alfalfa into a pair of pantyhose. Made it easier to clean up. Longer doesn't make it better. You can use the "bag" to make a second batch.

I'm always skittish on doing too much fertilizing of new roses, so I don't use alfalfa the first year, unless the rose is really vigorous.

I use 4 gal. empty kitty litter pails instead of a 32 gal. trash can. The kitty litter pails are not as cumbersome and is great for smaller gardens. I put 1 1/2 c. alfalfa meal in the kitty litter pail. You can also place these pails strategically by your rose garden for convenience.

I also just put the meal down and water it in. It works very well and that makes one less thing I have to do in the garden.

Carol

How often do you you give the roses the tea? Once in the spring only? Monthly?
-terry

We never get a round tuit more than a couple of times in the year.

Jeri

I usually put a good dose of it on in the early spring, and again in the fall. I work around the cool weather. It's too hot and humid to do much outdoors here in the summer, except to go swimming. Your plants will love it. I use it on everything, not just the roses. Sometimes I make the tea, and sometimes I just soak the pellets in an old 5 gallon paint bucket until mushy and scoop the sludge around each plant. Works either way.

Sandy

I used a Rubbermaid tub. It seems like I used 6 or 8 cups (maybe more) of pellets. Read the recipe here last year. I let it sit 3 or 4 days, stirring everyday. (Our temps were pretty high.) When I ran low, I would add more water and wait again. I made 2 separate batches. With the first one I was ready for the stink that I had read about, but it never came - only a "green" smell. The 2nd batch I made with rainwater collected from roof run-off. In less than a week there was white floating stuff on it and a bad smell. I used some of it before it dawned on me that it must have been contaminated by the fungus that grows on our roof shingles. I threw the rest away. It's time to do it again. But no more putting the tubs under the eaves.

It's wonderful stuff that brings basal breaks. I found that there is a difference in alfalfa, though. I bought my first 2 bags last year from one feed store. I thought the 2nd bag wasn't as good, and it got moldy real quick in my shed. So I went to a different feed store here (Seminole) and wow! what a difference! The pellets are bigger, bright green and have a very strong smell that's just marvelous. I think it will make great tea! Plus it was the same price. What a difference in quality.

I used it on young plants in pots. Didn't know any better, I guess. Some of them I think were holdovers at this nursery and pretty bedraggled. So I scratched in cottonseed meal and watered it in with a bucket of tea. They perked up, and I saw no negative effects on potted roses or ones in the ground. And I didn't dilute mine.
Sherry

Jeri
Here's your round tuit.
{{gwi:227263}}
I also have one printed on the back of my cards in case I ever need one.
I seldom hear people say that near me anymore. If they do they get one of my cards.
Will send you a few so you'll have some round tuits if you'll e-mail me your address.
Will also send you some free cards. They're not good for anything but they're free.

Cherrykist
I used pantyhose filled with alfalfa meal to make my tea.
I also put it on first year planted roses after they began to grow well. It's not that strong and if you're worried, dilute it more. Same with fish emulsion.
AAMOF, add fish emulsion to the tea as it's brewing a day before you apply it. It'll really smell foul but it works great.

I too use the alfalfa, wonderful stuff. I was amazed the first time I used the tea that I had made how quickly the roses responded. I now make the tea and buy the pellets that I add directly to the planting hole, I just throw in a handful. Stinky as it gets there is nothing better for the roses that I can find. I use it here as soon as the roses leaf out and then about every 3 weeks till mid Sept.

valerie

Hey Karl, my husband is always giving me "I'm out of round tuits" excuse. It's a standing joke between us now. I never thought of giving him some round tuits:)

Sandy

Making tea sounds like far too much work. I just buy Alfalfa meal and work it in around the base. The rain makes it's own tea and the meal adds organic matter to the soil.
+

I, too, use the kitty litter buckets especially the Tidy Cat ones with the built in lids. They're a little heavy when filled with all that water, but it's not too heavy to move. Better than lugging an open container of smelly stuff and risk getting it all over me when I trip over my dog. LOL! And hey, it gives the neighbors another excuse to think I'm nuts with all those litter buckets sitting in the driveway. :D
I was going to add fish emulsion last year, but didn't know if the stuff they sell at Lowe's or Wal-mart was any good. Any opinions on it?
Thanks!