I absolutely can't see anything wrong with this regimen except to wonder whether you really need to do this every month. I greatly admire and envy your energy, Sherry, especially given your heat and humidity. No wonder your garden looks so great. All I do is distribute alfalfa meal once or twice a year, water it in and call it good. I'm sure the tea is much more effective.

Ingrid

Sherry
You have more energy than I do. Like Ingrid I'm putting alfalfa pellets around each rose along with some bagged organic compost, and let the summer rains(hurricanes?) water it in gradually.

Summer is my down time, hope to head to someplace less humid in August after tucking in all the plants and telling them to be good.

I like the liquid fert idea for faster results though, just have to conserve my energy for getting all the pots planted AND NOT BUYING ANY MORE (sorry I have to be firm with myself). Just came in from getting 3 roses and 2 daylilies in the ground, yaay.

Denise

Last August I put 2 horse troughs in the back of the pick-up. Put in Alfalfa, horse poop...old that is, epsom salt, mushroom manure, and fish emulsion from Alaska. Filled with water and covered with plywood. After a week I put the juice on everything...smelly stuff a bit of mold. Holy mackrel...the stuff really took off, even some bands...
I did the same this spring...last weekend actually.
The one problem that I think is attributed to this tonic. I think that the late August application contributed to some of the winter dieback which occurred on new growth. But we also had a 6 degree cold snap which lasted for a week. We never get that cold. So maybe stop early August.
Jeannie

Sherryyyyyyyy, how do you make your magical tea? :)

Ingrid, the big difference between your garden and mine is rain - copious amounts of rain that washes nutrients right through my sandy garden. I really think I have to give them SOMEthing a few times during the summer. I've been told roses need monthly feedings in Florida. I kinda think OGRs growing organically need less than that, but they do need food here.

Denise, that's the whole thing - almost no energy required! I was going to say that I don't want to disturb the mulch, but the armadillos already did that (no more perfection!) Believe me, I take most of the summer off, too, but sometimes it just seems wrong not to be out there. I hope you get all your planting done soon, and if you happen to slip and buy a rose or two, I won't hold it against you. Good thing, I do like humidity.

Jeanne, I like your methodology and your recipe. I'll have to add the composted horse manure next time. By the time August rolls around we still have 2 more months of summer and plenty of warm fall weather for new growth to harden off. I think October/November is our time to stop fertilizing.

Aimeekitty, it was a very approximate recipe, and I do not guarantee that it's right. In fact, it's probably wrong, but I don't think this is a totally exact science.
33 gallon trash can
12 cups alfalfa pellets
10 cups fish emulsion
1 cup (approx) liquid seaweed (it's expensive stuff so I skimped)
Fill with water to the tippy tippy top
One gallon per bush except M Tillier, Mrs B R & climbers get two
Half gallon per potted rose

This is the first time I've used a trash can. I always used the Sterlite box containers. The trash can is very hard to stir (weak arms!), making it hard to get the alfalfa off the bottom & suspended in the tea.

Sherry

Great plan.
Not needed monthly.

Wonderful stuff tho. You will see an immediate response from your plants.

Jeri

Sherryolcala,
Just curious how much you pay for your Milorganite, because it's only $6.99 for a 40 LB bag here in WI. It just didn't sound right to me when you said it "was expensive"... but to each individual, I understand that one's $6.99 maybe another's $99.99. :)

Bro, my guess is that shipping from Milwaukee to Wisconsin is cheaper than shipping from Milwaukee to Ocala, Fl. It's $14.99 bag at the Fred Meyer in Bremerton, Wa. Milorganite is made in Milwaukee, isn't it?

Sherry, I have no advice on your fertilizer regimen since the sun does not shine here, there is no need to fertilize anything.

I did something similar to what you are describing in Alabama (I vaguely remember) but since my garbage can full of tea did not have wheels I sweated a lot carting the stuff around to my roses. I think your garden is, quite intelligently, much more compact than mine was.

I ignored the mold also that grew on the tea occasionally but did have quite a lot of fun identifying a mysterious mass of something that sprouted close to where I'd dumped the tea on a rose. I wondered if it came from the tea, but since it was quite entertaining to watch the stuff and figure out what it was, I didn't consider it a problem.

Your recipe sounds quite delicious!

Jeri, it will probably work out that it won't happen monthly. I do tend to let things slide a little.

brother, wow, I wish I only had to pay $6.99! Here Lowe's sells it for $12.97 for 40 lbs, and Walmart is about $1 cheaper. I wonder why the difference in price between WI and FL. BTW, it's gone up a few dollars since I've been buying it. Alfalfa is about $15 for 50 lbs, but it seems to go further.

Sherry

Gean, I'm so sad for you that the sun doesn't shine there. Hopefully, it's a spring thing and the summer will brighten up. Good to know that the mold is not lethal but I'll be sure to watch for strange growths.

Didn't realize MILorganite was made in MILwaukee. Do you think perhaps the dear brother was rubbing it in a bit?? Oh, well, shipping is always the killer.

Sherry

I'm astonished that your brew was ready in -- what was it -- 3 days??? Wow! Even in the heat around here, mine is never ready in less than a full week, if then. I think I'd find your trash can a very cumbersome container to work with -- too deep and very little surface area. The best alfalfa brew 'still' I've found is a rectangular lidded RubberMaid container (approx 48X20X18) on wheels (not that I push it around the garden, 'cause I don't). It's very easy to stir because of the large surface area and comparatively shallow depth. The smaller surface of your container provides less air contact & probably was the primary reason for the 'mold' you found. Just a guess . . .

windeaux, I've seen so many recipes that use trash cans, but I agree with you about the rectangular containers. I don't know if it was "ready" or not. It wasn't the smelliest I've ever made, but at least I wasn't gagging through the whole thing. I will let the next batch steep more, but it's in the sun this time also. In the front I kind of tucked it out of sight which put it in the shade. :))

Sherry

I will spare you the videos and you tubes I found on various slime molds which were the masses that occasionally sprouted in my garden. They appear in gardens high in rotting matter like bark mulch and are really very interesting. I just thought it was strange that the times they appeared were right after I'd doused the area with tea.

Well, it's all fun, anyway.

PS, I do know that Milwaukee is in Wisconsin!!

As for being ready in 3 days...

With the bacteria in horse manure to give it a boost, I totally believe it. Starting without it should take longer.

As for the fungus (mold) on top, most common 'fuzzy' molds that we see are obligate aerobes (has to have oxygen to live). ('Water' molds that we associate with root rot belong to another group altogether.) Therefore, the more surface area, the more oxygen and opportunity for fungus to grow. I suspect if one stirs more often, it would reduce mold on top.

And, fwiw, the type and quantity of bacteria from the horse poo depends on how fresh. Honestly speaking off the top of my head, I might be inclined to use (a smaller amount of) fresh horse poo for this purpose with the idea that the strict and facultative enteric anaerobes would go to town on the alfalfa and other goodies in the tea. Otoh, if you use composted manure, the strict anaerobes will be dead. [Strict anaerobes can't live around oxygen (we have lots of them in our gut) and facultative bacteria are happy with or without oxygen.]

A good example of this are sewage plants that use either anaerobic and/or aerobic digestion in different phases of processing. From Wikipedia:

"Anaerobic digestion
Main article: Anaerobic digestion

Anaerobic digestion is a bacterial process that is carried out in the absence of oxygen. The process can either be thermophilic digestion, in which sludge is fermented in tanks at a temperature of 55C, or mesophilic, at a temperature of around 36°C. Though allowing shorter retention time (and thus smaller tanks), thermophilic digestion is more expensive in terms of energy consumption for heating the sludge.

Anaerobic Digestion is the most common (mesophilic) treatment of domestic sewage in septic tanks, which normally retain the sewage, from one day to two days, reducing the B.O.D. by about 35 to 40%. This reduction can be increased with a combination of anaerobic and aerobic treatment by installing 'Aerobic Treatment Units' (ATUs) in the Septic Tank.

One major feature of anaerobic digestion is the production of biogas (with the most useful component being methane), which can be used in generators for electricity production and/or in boilers for heating purposes.

Aerobic digestion

Aerobic digestion is a bacterial process occurring in the presence of oxygen. Under aerobic conditions, bacteria rapidly consume organic matter and convert it into carbon dioxide. The operating costs used to be characteristically much greater for aerobic digestion because of the energy used by the blowers, pumps and motors needed to add oxygen to the process. However, since the advent of stone fibre filter technology which uses natural air currents for oxygenation, this no longer applies.

Aerobic digestion can also be achieved by using diffuser systems or jet aerators to oxidize the sludge."

For anyone wondering about methane, I wouldn't in the time period and quantity we're looking at. Plus, you're not using a closed system. Otoh, anaerobic digestion will produce more VSCs (Volatile Sulfur Compounds) and we all know what THEY smell like! ;-)

As to all of us being amazed at your energy -
I am not old - yet -(33), and not weak (my back looks like a man's from all the gardening) - but pouring alfalfa tea a gallon at a time gave me "DeQuervain's Tenosynovitis" , a repetative motion injury, in both of my wrists! It's back breaking work! I had to give it up.

Gonna brag on my stepdad for a bit -
My mom was jealous of my alfalfa tea. She definately can't go around pouring gallons on her huge garden. So for mother's day my stepdad made her a wonderful contraption.
It's a water wagon that rides on a trailer on the back of her 4 wheeler. A huge drum with a hose coming off of it so she doesn't have to walk pulling a hose (knee problems).
He added an aerator to it and she mixes her alfalfa tea directly in it and can ride around watering her plants with it! Isn't that a nifty idea? Makes me wish I had a 4 wheeler!

Sherry, you sure have more energy than I do... I just throw the alfalfa and milorganite and black hen .etc... around on the ground, I have my son or grandson haul it out of the truck and put the bags into my little red wagon and then I pull the wagon around, ...... the only problem I see is that the alfalfa tends to make a crust on the ground and I have to reach in under the rose with my long-handled cultivator and break it up, but that's no problem it's easy.... I have to hand it to you making up a tea and then pouring it out, I don't have the energy to do that ! Here in St Pete the milorganite is 9.99 at HD or Lowe's, it's gone up a lot, just last year it was abt. $7. and I used more of it........ sally

Carrie, I'm guessing you have way more roses than I do which explains the repetitive motion injury. So sad to hear that! My worst problem is that I'm so sloppy. I think most of it gets to where I intended but not exactly. Your stepdad's invention sounds wonderful. How ingenious! The narrow paths in parts of my small garden would prevent me from utilizing such a great worksaver.

Well, Sally, I was still in my office work shoes (who has time or is organized enough to go in and change??) which got very dripped on - yuck! But like I said, it really was quick and painless with a plastic milk jug with top cut off in one hand and another similarly cut dog treat jug in the other. Biff, bam, all done. I don't know why St Pete has better prices than Ocala - well, probably more volume.

Sherry

Lid on or off? I think I'd keep it on if it's a loose fit. Reason being, unless you have a way to aerate the liquid, the anaerobes are going to grow and produce stinky gas. Also, keeping a lid on it will decrease loose mold spores in the air from falling on it. Wouldn't hurt the action to stir it once or twice a day if you can, no worries if you can't sounds like yours was great!

Hey, have I got an idea!!! Where's Audry??? She needs to make a little gallon sized batch and leave it up wind in the old biddies shrubs!!! I'd leave out the fish so it would be harder to locate...

Sherry, your roses are going to be FABULOUS!