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gardengopi

Alfa Alfa tea recipe for roses

gardengopi
16 years ago

Dear friends,

I read on an earlier thread of messages that Alfa Alfa tea makes an excellent fertilizer for roses, only I couldn't find the original recipe. Can anyone tell me how best to make this organic fertilizer.

Also, is it right that roses would need a 'higher' potassium feed after flowering to encourage a second flush? If so, what would be the best organic source?

Many thanks,

Garden gopi

Comments (4)

  • cavallo
    16 years ago

    There are many variations out there. I use the following (converted from English to SI units for your convenience);

    75l water
    2l alfalfa meal (the powdery stuff)
    60ml epsom salts (magnesium sulfate)
    15ml copperas (iron sulfate)
    30ml miracle grow

    All measures are by volume, and are very approximate. I'm sure the miracle grow isn't organic, but note that the proportion is about 1/10th the recommended rate of application, so I doubt it will appreciably harm the soil.

    All I do is add the dry ingredients to a large plastic tub, fill it with water, and let it rot for a week. If I want it more aerobic, I'll stir it once every morning, and it doesn't stink as horribly when the week is up. As the season progresses, I drop the iron and magnesium.

    After using the stinky liquid, I reuse the settled muck to make another, weaker batch for the following week. After that batch is spent, I pour the slurry into the small bed with my miniatures, rake it in, and start a new batch. In this way, there is always a tub of the stuff cooking in the back yard, every plant gets a gallon of the full-strength liquid once every two weeks, and nothing is wasted.

    The results have been excellent.

  • gardengopi
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Thank you so much, I will give it a try

  • mauirose
    16 years ago

    I'd love to try this recipe but I can't tell how much of the first two ingredients to use? Where do you get powdery alfalfa meal? Thanks.

  • cavallo
    16 years ago

    Well, converting back from liters to cups/gallons would be trivial, so I'll leave that as an exercise to the reader.

    The powdered alfalfa meal comes in 50# bags from any farm/feed store. I live in a somewhat rural area, and the closest one I have is perhaps a 40-minute drive, so depending on where you live you may have to hunt for one.

    I'd advise against anything other than powdered alfalfa meal. Apparently a lot of the pelletized alfalfa feed products can contain things like sugar and salt which would be bad for a number of reasons. Best not to risk it and just get the real thing. Powdered meal should be around $12-$15 US for a 50# bag. I have about 20 roses, and in my zone 5 garden, 1 bag lasts quite a long time. Multiple seasons.