Oh, just looked it up. You may be able to get alfalfa meal at your local Feed & Seed store, if you have any. I used to get a 50 pound bag for about $10, but it has been a while. I think it was usually about 50 cents a pound. Yes, I would think Rabbits would be attracted to the smell, but not sure about that.

If you scratch it in around the drip line of the rose and then water well (or apply it before you're due for a good rain) you shouldn't have problems from animals digging. I'd say about 1 to 2 cups per rose, depending on the size of the plant. Countrygirl is correct that it will be much more economical to buy it from a feed store. Alfalfa does wonderful things for plants!

That would be an expensive way to buy it. You feed a large bush about a cup or more. Mini's and small bushes 1/2 cup. All plants like it thou even grass. You can get a 50# bag at millsmix.com for 42$ with free shipping. Yes, they have all gone way up in price. It stores well if you don't use it all. I have not had the bunnies bother the meal which is ground fine. I have had them eat bigger pellets.

Agree, get a 40-kb bad for $15-$20 and use one or two cups per plant. Pull the mulch back, apply, and water. I don't scratch anything in around the shallow feeder roots.

I just picked up a 50# bag at a farm feed mill for $17. I use 1 C per larger bushes

If you don't have that many roses - a 3-pound box wouldn't go for more than about 10 roses I think - you can look in pet stores in the small animal feed section. You can buy alfalfa hay in various small to medium size bags for $5-8 or so. I always shop at the horse feed stores for chopped dehydrated alfalfa hay, and I rely on the hay myself since it doesn't retain moisture next to the the roses as much as the meal does (I regretted using the meal last year for that reason). Regardless, I'm sure there's somewhere local to get alfalfa hay for much less. Good idea for the roses though - they love the boost of nutrients and will reward you by putting out more basal canes most of the time.

Cynthia

Most Feed and Seed stores also sell the meal by the pound. At least around here.

Gail

Thanks to everyone.
How many cups might I expect to get from a 50-pound bag of rabbit feed pellets? Storage in my garage is very tight. . . I might just plan on spreading the entire 50 pounds in the garden, so that I use it all up immediately. I have a half-acre suburban yard, with mixed perennial and rose flower gardens, plus a large shady cluster of hemlocks with some groundcover, large shade garden area, and a couple of areas with clusters of arborvitae, and the standard areas with yews and trees typical of most surburban houses built in the 1970s. Anything in particular that might like whatever alfalfa is leftover after I dose the rose bushes?

If you get the pellets. make sure they don't have extra additives like salt. the pellets take longer to breakdown so it you can find the meal. You can use it around any plants.

Do the lawn, too, maybe? I do store mine in a big Rubbermaid tub with a lid and it keeps well. But go on and spread them wherever :)

Don't clump them all up, though, or that can form a strange texture that doesn't let water through well. Use a single layer and leave some ground showing, imho. You can use more (and clump them) farther out from the plant and then rake them on as they decompose, too. That's how I do it around my heavy-feeding plants.

I rely on rain a lot, though, so I'm talking about having our light rains still soak in to the feeder roots. Heavy rains or manual watering could probably soak in fine even with a thick layer of pellets (but I don't know).

I have used Dr Earth Alfalfa Meal before and recently. I've used it on tomato plants/roses in the ground and roses/flowers in containers and it seems to work real good...

I just recently put some Dr Alfalfa Meal in 3 large pots with flowers that have worn out 2-3 year old MG potting soil in them... Perked flowers right up after it had a chance to break down... And since I have not used any other fertilizer in those pots I know it was the Alfalfa meal causing all that nice growth and better blooming as those flowers were sort of stunted with hardly any new growth or blooms since May 22nd...

Is Alfalfa tea same as Alfalfa meal? I have 5 lbs Alfalfa tea.......

Alfalfa meal is as if you put alfalfa pellets in a food processor or blender and ground them up almost to a powder. The Dr. Earth alfalfa meal also has added "Pro-Biotics beneficial soil microbes". From my reading, it looks as if the best thing for the roses is to buy pellets, make tea, and use the tea as a foliar spray. I don't want to undertake the making of tea, so will apply pellets and meal instead. I am thinking to put the meal in the amended soil used to fill my planting holes for roses and other things I need to plant soon, and to apply the pellets within and at drip line of established plants.

I bought a 50-lb bag of Arco brand pellets at a local feed store for $18.99. I also ordered the 3-pound box of Dr. Earth alfalfa meal on amazon for $11.71. The 50-pound bag of pellets measures roughly 5x16x24, whereas the 3-pound box of meal measures 7 x 10.75 x 2.375. I could not find much info online about Dr. Earth alfalfa meal, so (in case anyone is interested), I will paste in the notes I made from the Dr. Earth alfalfa meal box:

Dr. Earth #720 Alfalfa Meal 2-1-2, 3-pound box.
2-1-2 NPK or Nitrogen-Phosphate-Potash.
Also contains 7 kinds of non-plant food ingredients, e.g. Bacillus subtilis [a soil bacteria].
Supplies Pro-Biotics beneficial soil microbes.
Store in a cool dry place. Avoid direct exposure to light.

Vegetables, annuals, perennials, bedding plants:
a. New plantings: Mix into your soil amendment: 1 cup per 10 square feet. Till to depth of 4 to 8 inches, and water in.
b. Established: Side dress any time during growing season: 1 cup per 10 square feet of growing area. Work lightly into soil gently, and water well.

When potting up plants, mix 2 T per gallon of potting soil, or 1/2 cup per 1/2 cup cubic foot of potting soil. (1/2 cubic foot of is approx 5 gallons.) Mix soil and alfalfa meal thoroughly. Water well.

Established potted plants: 2 T for 6" container, or 8 T for 12" container. Scratch into soil gently. Add thin layer of mulch if possible.

New plantings of trees and shrubs: 2 cups per half cubic foot or 5 gallons of soil for filling the hole. Water.

Established trees and shrubs: 1 cup per inch of trunk diameter, measuring 4 to 6" above the soil line. Work gently into soil inside the drip line. Water.

May be used as compost starter.