Question for Ben or those who use alfalfa tea
Lilyfinch z9a Murrieta Ca
4 years ago
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toolbelt68
4 years agoRelated Discussions
Thinking spring so therefore thinking alfalfa tea question!!
Comments (27)Thanks for the Horticultural Myths link, I have saved it for more thorough reading.. I can get alfalfa pellets and just scatter them, and then turn the hose on them and later use my hand cultivator to scratch them into the mulch, they seem to break down prety fast, and I do this when I can no longer see the remains of the last scattering....I also scatter Milorganite and Black Hen and Black Cow, and mulch, so it all becomes a mush of stuff.....I have used Fish Meal also, but can no longer obtain it so have switched to Fish Emulsion, and think I will pour some in a large pail of water and throw it around the beds.... I have a problem with Rheumatoid Arthritis so have to limit the labor involved, seeking the easiest path.... sally...See MoreOn EBAY - Dewey's Own Alfalfa Tea 32oz
Comments (14)Hi greenheaven. I bought it from a seller on ebay.uk, "Rootgrow" I think it was called. Only one store here sells this stuff and it it is too expensive for me. The stuff from UK was cheap even with postage and packing. If I have understood it correctly it is only used once in the soil when planting. The microorganism exist naturally in the environment and will eventually establish on the plants by itself, but in can take up to five years in the average garden. If they are added the symbiosis is there from the start. Once they are established they will stay there for as long as the plant lives. Another thing I have read is that mycorrhizal fungi is only one of several beneficial soil microorganisms; types of bacteria, tricoderma fungi and all the living things that exists in good compost and manure makes the soil and garden healthy. The compost type of microorganisms can with advantage be added a couple of times a year. The exception is chicken manure that needs to be composted thorough, preferably hot compost. It is suspected to promote blackspot and other diseases if not....See MoreQuestion for those who have used chalk paint - - -
Comments (22)I have used AS chalk paint on several pieces. At first it was to see what the excitement was all about, and I bought only sample jars when they were much less expensive than they are now. The sheen is VERY FLAT, and personally, I don't care for it without wax. I have not bought the AS waxes, but I have Butcher's Wax in clear, and Briwax in both light brown and dark brown. All of them protect and (to me) enhance the appearance of the chalk paint. This was a black and gold CL mirror that I did in blues and grays in AS chalk paint. I then used Briwax in dark brown to get into the carvings and add a bit of sheen to the mirror. BEFORE - AFTER - I experimented last year with a maple bureau that I bought from Craigslist. I put on patches of several colors (both chalk paint and regular latex in different brands). What I found was that the chalk paint stuck to the unsanded finish like glue. When I made my decision to go with a chalk paint color, I found that I could easily remove the latex paints by just running my fingernail over them. THAT is what I like about the chalk paints on furniture vs. the other types. This is the bureau that I mentioned above, still in progress. I used AS Paris Gray, and I am decoupaging fabric to the drawer fronts. In order to preserve the color match between paint and fabric here, I will use the butcher's wax in clear when I finish this one. I am replacing the knobs with chunky 'English style' knobs that I have painted in the AS Paris Gray. And before I started it, in the seller's garage -...See MoreMore questions on Alfalfa Tea
Comments (33)Braverichard, I think when people talk about hay or things like grass clippings or coffee grounds matting down and starving the soil, they're talking about much larger amounts of those substances. You wouldn't use alfalfa hay or any of the above substances as mulch alone, for instance, since 2-3" of those substances does indeed clump up and create a barrier. For me, I sprinkle the hay around the base of the root zone on top of the existing mulch like oak leaves or bark mulch, so that the existing air pockets that naturally occur in the mulch keep the hay from clumping up. It also disappears pretty quickly into the mass of the mulch with natural gardening activity, so I don't scratch it in or anything. If I'm really organized (ha! translation - I did this one year), then I put my alfalfa hay and a little fertilizer and/or Ironite down on top of the mostly bare soil at the end of winter before I spread around the bags of leaves I use to protect those roses. And flowersaremusic - that is a good example of how I handle that many roses without a staff (as if - my teenage son and daughter wander out for a half hour now and then if they're really bored, but that's it). I. Do. Not. Fuss. Life's too short, so I don't do things that aren't either fun or really really necessary. Spraying in my world is neither so I don't do it. Deadheading is fun, though not technically necessary, because it allows me to get up close and personal with the roses. Even in a good year I can deadhead most of the yard in a couple of hours on one weekend day, extending maybe into a second weekend day if I'm having a good season. Most of July through October this year I sadly deadheaded in under an hour, including pruning, photos and miscellaneous tasks, hence my complaints about the stinky-poo gardening year for roses. Speaking of stinky-poo, I'm glad that alfalfa tea isn't supposed to smell, so I'm obviously doing it wrong and it's not a good fit for me. And don't get me started on Milorganite - I bought it thinking it would be the same as Ironite effectively, but there are few garden substances that smell worse to me. I couldn't even stand being in the same room as my shoes that had stepped in it, and I have a very poor nose for detecting most smells, at least the good ones. Dogs have very odd ideas of what smells good, and tasting it - bleeggggh! My technique for fertilizing my roses is literally once a year, wheeling a cart with my bale of alfalfa and bag of fertilizer next to a rose bed and a) reach for a fistful of hay (two fists for large roses), b) flick hay around base of rose, c) dip a cup or less of fertilizer and spread around drip line, d) move on. Maybe 15 seconds a rose if I don't get distracted, but heavens - part of the point of gardening is to get distracted. I distribute the big post-winter pruning over 4 or 5 relatively sane weekends of a couple hours each day, starting some time in March when the hardiest roses start budding up a bit (but yes, I wait for the forsythia with the fussy pants roses). The only truly brutal period is planting season from late April to the end of May where I am spending most of my weekend daylight hours planting way too many additional roses, many of whom replace dead ones. Fortunately I have pretty good soil and can plant a rose in 15 minutes (or less for band roses). Back to Adrian's original point - rose gardening is about observation and figuring out what works or doesn't work for you. If you like it and your roses like it, do it even if it's supposed to be "wrong" (like ahem, planting them too close together). If it causes problems, like alfalfa pellets burning, figure out what wasn't working and change it. If you don't like it, don't do it, and be prepared for consequences (like ignoring blackspot or having fewer roses). It's gotta be fun or what's the point! Cynthia...See MoreBenT (NorCal 9B Sunset 14)
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoOliver (SF 9A)
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4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoLilyfinch z9a Murrieta Ca thanked BenT (NorCal 9B Sunset 14)Oliver (SF 9A)
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