Holly mollie I can't imagine just dead fish gags me to death, and you let it sit for days!

I'm not sure you can blame all the smell on the fish emulsion. ;-) Afalfa Tea is one of the worst smells even without the fish emulsion. I gave it up years ago (didn't use fish emulsion) and stuck with the Mills Magic.

Yes, the smell of the alfalfa after a few days will gag a maggot! However, I'm a big believer in it, have been using it for years, and the roses absolutely love it!!

Forgot to mention I use it twice a year, early in the spring and before the fall flush.

One of my issues is that there are always bugs or bugs' eggs in that much afalfa. So, besides the smell of opening a 30-gallon trash can after a few days/week, I always had tiny worms/larvae swimming in the broth. I would much rather deal with the milorganite in Mills Mix. To each his own, though. ;-)

Does anyone have that old post on alfalfa tea from a few years back? It was long, and hilarious!

pfffft, I sneer at alfalfa tea, in comparison to the unforgettably vile comfrey mix, I would bath in the alfalfa....although it has to be said, the fish gives it a special piquancy.

What is the purpose of mixing the alfalfa et.al. in water? I just take my wagon w/alfalfa bag out to the garden, open the bag, and scoop out the dry pellets and throw it around the roses... I can't imagine trying to haul a big container of water w/wet alfalfa around to all my 150 roses it would take hours and having to refill, etc. would be exhausting... the dry pellets decompose the next time one waters anyway, within a week they are all fragmented and sinking into the mulch and are not visible within a couple of weeks.... I do the same w/Milorganite and Black Hen, just throw the dry stuff out around the base of the rose.....works for me....sally

I may have that exploding tea post on my home computer..I will look. It was too funny.

I have made tea several time and gave up. Now I just bury alfalfa cubes about 4 inches down and let them rot that way. Much easier and the roses love it!

I'm with saldut--put it on dry and water it in. Much more pleasant experience, though it may take a little longer for the rose to feel its effects.

That hilarious alfalfa tea thread was a number of years ago and in connection with Pappu's first attempt at it. It was made funnier by Pappu giving us a kind of play-by-play description morning and evening for several days running. It was kinda like our own soap opera--stay tuned folks for the next episode of Pappu and the Alfalfa Tea Monster from Hell! I used to look forward to reading the next episode the next morning. The thread is probably still archived here somewhere--if someone wants to go searching. Pappu's reactions were hilarious!

Kate

Here is a posting about it with the actual post at the bottom

Here is a link that might be useful: article

Well, lilyfinch, I also do alfalfa tea several times per season. I usually do it after spring flush is over to jolt the roses back into flowering.
Strangely enough, I do not find the smell foul or awful. It reminds me of farms and horses (and maybe stables.) Once I made the mistake of brewing a garbage can of it under our bedroom window. Still, we didn't hate it. The worst part for me is distributing it and being swarmed by house and horse flies in the process. I would never ever add the pellets to the soil because in my experience, some sort of fermentation occurs which could kill roots and plants.
The hardest part for me is finding garbage cans in the yard that don't have cracks or holes. Last summer, I put a big plastic bag in one of the broken cans and it worked fine. I get two batches from each can.
I do remember Pappu's thread--it is hilarious!

I don't mind the smell so much as the work involved. I brew up 2-30 gal. at a time and it still takes me 4 batches to get all 300 roses. It's the dipping process that takes foreverrrr that is tedious. What we won't do for our beloved roses...!

A number of us have been putting dry alfalfa cubes down and watering them in for quite a few years now. I assure you that it doesn't harm the plants in any way. It just takes it a little longer for the alfalfa to get absorbed is all.

Kate

If you put "pappu" in the search section, it brings up some of some posts showing his great roses, and boy, they ARE great!

Yes, viewers should not miss Pappu's photos of the end results. Absolutely spectacular! Who would have expected such an outstanding conclusion to such a hilarious beginning!

Kate