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Soil, Compost & Mulch

alfalfa meal

14 years ago

OK, new question here. What's the difference between alfalfa meal, alfalfa pellets, and shredded through a shredder to a fine consistancy), alfalfa hay?

Is there any reason why one would work better in the soil than another?

I searched the forums and didn't find a definitive answer.

Ken

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Comments (4)

minitrucker
14 years ago
Meal would be the fastest small surface area, pellets second and depending on the sherdder whole hay/alfalfa third or close second. Are you mixing it into soil or broadcasting?
reg_pnw7
14 years ago
I've heard that pellets, since they're formulated as animal feed, can have salt added, which would be bad for the soil. But so far everytime I've bought pellets they've been plain alfalfa with no added salt.
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diane_nj 6b/7a
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Some folks on the Roses Forum have said that their alfalfa hay contained seeds. The meal, cubes and pellets (meal compressed into cubes or pellets) don't. The pellets sometimes also contain sugar.
ken1
Original Author
14 years ago
When I shred alfalfa, it comes out almost as fine as if it were put through a grinder, approaching powder in size.
I plan to use it in compost primarily but would probably want to use some on the garden as well.
It sounds like the three are almost the exact same thing, with the exception of no additives in the ground alfalfa.
Ken

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