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alfalfa - tea verus meal
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Posted by whitejade z5 MI (My Page) on Sun, May 29, 05 at 20:03
| After laughing though the vomit /wino/dead fish post on alfalfa tea , and reading that we can spread alfalfa meal instead, I am wondering what is the time difference we are talking about with tea versus meal? Will it takes weeks for the alfalfa meal to "nutritionalize" for the roses ? And if we "half rotted" the alfalfa in tea format - say it only smelled slightly grotesque - would that be slightly better than spreading alfalfa meal or is it an all or nothing thing so once we go for the tea we need to go all the way?? And also - would just spreading the alfalfa meal be better for worms, worse for worms or is this is a non-issue entirely as per worms? (I was lookling at the vermicomposting forum too as I am very interested in enticing mega worms to my garden!)
Thanks very much!
Chris |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: alfalfa - tea verus meal
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| The fermentation breaks the alfalfa down enough that it has readily usable nurients and hormones for the plant. Plants respond in a couple of days to the brew. The meal is best applied in early season right after pruning and then covered with mulch to have the proper effect 3-4 weeks later. It needs to be in constant contact with a moist soil in order to break down rapidly enough to have any effect this season. But, if you have a constant fertilization program with the meal, like 4x a year, you really don't have to worry that much about nutrients being available. |
RE: alfalfa - tea verus meal
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| I forget the name of the alcohol produced by the fermentation process, but it is supposed to promote basal breaks in roses. jill |
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