Jeri made me laugh, that was funny! Humor is badly need in this forum. Dry air is made of 78.09% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, and the rest of argon and carbon dioxide. That explains why poor drainage wet clay soil can turn roses yellow ... the roots can't breathe. My Eglantyne rose was yellowish, until I fixed the drainage. MiracleGro potting soil comes with enough nitrogen for 3 months. I had one geranium in MiracleGro and was annoyed that the leaves are so dark green with few flowers (I don't fertilize that pot). There's one pot that I ran out of MiracleGro and put 1/2 garden dirt in ... I actually like that geranium better: it was shorter, more blooms, and lighter green leaves ....easier on the eyes. A friend asked me about phosphorus, so I'll post the info. here: The NPK value of oak leaves is 0.8 /0.35/ 0.15 Maple leaves is similar to that, so it's twice higher in nitrogen than phosphorus. Once decomposed, the value of phosphorus rises. Most decomposed organic matter is high in phophorus, such as sewage sludge at NPK of 2/ 1.9 / 0.3. Animal tankage (manure without the fat and gelatin) with NPK of 8 / 20 / 0. Other high sources of phosporus are rock phosphate and bone meal with NPK of 4 / 21 / 0.2. Drawback of rock phosphate and bone meal: they can only be utilized at pH at or below 7, according to University of Colorado Extension. Since I'm lazy in pruning I would rather sacrifice top growth for more root and flowering, or less nitrogen and more phosphorus. Leaves and stem store plenty of nitrogen, and unless the plant is completely yellow, there's no need for nitrogen. Even then, fixing the drainage and fluff up the soil with organic matter helped my roses to green up without the need for chemical nitrogen (also highest in salt). Adding air to the soil by making it fluffy is the cheapest way to give nitrogen to roots, considering that dry air is made of 78.09% nitrogen. Composting scraps from kitchen is another cheap source of nutrients, considering Cantaloupe rinds has NPK value of 0 / 9.77 /12.0 ... high in phosphorus and potassium. Potato skin has NPK value of 0 / 5.18 / 27.5 ... also high P and K. Nothing beats banana peels in potassium, with NPK value of 0 / 3.25 / 41.76. Potassium is need to counteract the salt in manure, and to fight diseases. This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Wed, Feb 20, 13 at 11:48

Don't use alfalfa tea on indoor plants, it's meant to be used outdoors and work with the soil web to enhance it. If you search alfalfa tea on the "soil, compost and mulch" & the "rose" forum you will find recipes and methods, plus tools to help oxygenate it, and the pros and cons for it. There is supposed to be a chemical contained in alfalfa that promotes branching in plant growth, so rose growers really like to use it. I just do what Ginny does, I work the pellets direct into the soil and let the microbes do the work. I think the concept with the tea is that you feed the brew and get a larger concentration of beneficial microbes to give your plants a boost. And there's conflicting arguments about how to apply, watering can versus spraying on the plants. One guy cooked up a batch, covered, under his enclosed deck. Left it too long and the bin blew it's top, spewing the contents which also happen to smell like concentrated puke all over everything. Yes, after fermenting for a couple of days, that stuff reeks! But it needs the wee soil beasties to work with, that is why it is not so good to use indoors, never mind the smell.

Yes. The pellets are easier to find and cheaper to purchase in my experience and they work well. If you water them right after they are put down the pellets disintegrate and become easier for the plants to digest. If you don't water them they become good rabbit food--which is what the pellets are used for by people who have rabbits.

Thank you all. Hmm...I guess I'll never know then. Tbh, I forgot exactly how much fertilizer I used last year outside the alfalfa - but it was as usual: some Rosetone early in the season, and later some liquid throughout the season for the potted one ... but I don't remember how much. The only thing I did differently were the alfalfa pellets and the crazy growth happened after I applied them mid-season. I did get some decent blooms with the first flush, BEFORE the alfalfa. But after them, it went into crazy cane & foliage growth fest, no bloom. So I concluded it was the alfalfa pellets. But maybe you're right and it may have been too much of the other ferts. I will have to see what happens this season when I will be more careful with the N.