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do any of you use alfalfa tea on your perennials?

14 years ago

i just bought some alfalfa pellets with the idea in mind of making tea ~~ i know rose growers swear by it; but do any of you use it for your perennials?

thanks, phyl

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Comments (10)

anitamo
14 years ago
I use the pellets, but never made tea out of it. I figure why go to all the bother making the tea, when I have the pellets. Is there a benefit for one over the other in form?
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
14 years ago
it is rabbit food in pellet form ...

ergo.. the tea is beneficial to avoid rabbits..

there should be a FAQ in the hosta forum about it.. I THINK ...

ken
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No, baking soda would not harm at all provided the final pH of the solution is reasonable. And you are not using so much of it as to cause salt burn. Just measure the pH of the aa tea and add baking soda to till you just get your pH. sodium bicarbonate appears in water from many sources. Its a matter of pH and concentration. Do on a small volume first, keeping track of how much you are adding of what and then you can scale up as needed. Be aware that sometimes solutions that contain a lot of amino acids and proteins (such as aa tea) may suck up a lot of salts without changing pH, ie they can be strong buffers. In this case you cannot use baking soda but need something more caustic such as sodium hydroxide (lye)...just a little bit of lye can make the pH alkaline quickly. the experiment is worth doing, adjusting pH of aa tea to an alkaline range. It may happen that you have to add alkaline water in a different way. But it may work the way you want it to.
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sheltieche
14 years ago
Phyl where did you buy pellets? I do not think I have seen them, would like to try.
BTW I have sent you email with plant swap info I am hosting in Skokie this Friday, I know you are not far away, you more than welcome to stop by and meet rest of GW people, should be a nice crowd gathering.
prairie-rose
14 years ago
I don't use the tea, but I put pellets under all my roses, and also under some of my perennials and shrubs that like rich soil. I buy the horse pellets in 50 lb bags for about 14 bucks from Tractor Supply. Rabbit pellets have other ingredients in them besides alfalfa that I don't want.
phyl345
Original Author
14 years ago
lindalana ~~ i bought the alfalfa pellets at the grayslake feed store ~~ that would be quite a hike from skokie for you ~~ hope your plant swap is a success ~(i have a family birthday party)

soooOOOooo ~~ nobody uses alfalfa tea on their perennials???

thanks, phyl
bean_counter_z4
14 years ago
Phyl, I use the tea. Can't quote any scientific studies. It seems that since breakdown and decomp is already begun in the water, nutrients would be in a usable form faster. Also the water penetrates the soil faster than waiting for a heavy rain to dissolve the pellets.

I do throw pellets down in March which gives them time to break down and then begin with the tea in April.
Marnie
prairiemoon2 z6b MA
14 years ago
I just bought alfalfa pellets too. After reading about how smelly the alfalfa tea is, I am thinking I will just add it to the base of certain plants and water it in good and mulch over it. Can't see how it can hurt. I was also thinking of just leaving some in a nylon sitting in the watering can and leave it filled with water overnight before watering.
phyl345
Original Author
14 years ago
thanks for answering ~ i was beginning to think alfalfa tea was just for roses ~~ i made some tea on may 17th, but it must not be strong enough cuz it doesn't stink!

i used milk containers & a handful of pellets & they have been sitting in the sun ~~ but ~~ not much stinking going on!

thanks, phyl
terrene
14 years ago
I bought some alfalfa pellets at a feed store this winter too, thinking I would fertilize grass/perennials/nitrogen-lovers. Have searched gardenweb for threads on this subject, but still a bit confused what the heck to do with them too.

50 lbs of horse pellets in the garage, sitting there, a ripe target for any mice that might happen to wander in (and avoid getting caught by my indoor cat, who likes to prowl the garage).

Don't grow roses, anybody know what else would benefit from these?
diggerdee zone 6 CT
14 years ago
I use alfalfa pellets in with my roses. Last year, they only had feed at the store (no pellets) so I decided to try to make tea. I used a 35-gallon plastic garbage can. And yes, it stunk, lol.

I honestly don't remember if I used it on my perennials, but I did use it on the annuals in my cutting garden. Might have done the veggies too, but don't remember.

The worst thing for me was not the stink, but having to lug a watering can all over the yard a couple hundred times. Okay, maybe not a couple hundred, but enough to get tired of it really fast, lol. And I even (thought I) put the garbage can in a central location.

I still have that bag of feed in the garage somewhere (if the mice didn't finish it off) so I will probably make tea again this year. Thanks for reminding me!

:)
Dee

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