Well fellow growers……how about a new version of and age old way? In the following essay, I would like to go through my method of building an Alfalfa tea.

In a time now gone only to our memories, I learned this from a group of growers called the 3LB (three little Birds). There methods sent ripples through the organic growing world…….to bring us to the here and now. The internet has given us the grounds to make giant leaps through the close communications among growers.
I can personally testify to the advances that I myself made in this area. In the “old days” we had to learn through trial and error…..which we all know took years for those of you who were growing then.

Here we go…….

Alfalfa is one of the cheapest and easiest to get products available to us and most do not even know it. It is sold at every pet store in North America and at every feed store also. Alfalfa is the main ingredient in most animal feeds…..horses and rabbits are a couple that come to mind right off. I like to use pure alfalfa for horses. The cost is very cheap compared to the enormous benefits it will give your plants.
Alfalfa contains triaconatol which is a fatty acid growth hormone.I t is especially good for increasing growth rates during vegetative growth It's the "hidden" in the composition of the commercial product "Super Thrive".


Alfalfa is earth friendly. There are no harmful by products. So, you medical users and totally organic vegans here is the product you have been looking for. Alfalfa is also a renewable source….after you have used it to brew in a tea the left over organic matter can be added to the compost bin or used as a top dressing in container gardening. Alfalfa is also a very good feed for your worms if you are into vermicomposting.

Alfalfa comes in two different forms….a meal and in the pellet form. I buy the pellet form from the feed store for 11.00 for a 50# bag. There are garden centers that will carry the meal but the cost is up there and that is what we want to avoid. When I buy it in the pellet form, I take an El Cheapo blender from a garage sale and grind it up and put it into plastic container for freshness. Now, take into consideration that in the pellet form it will be more concentrated. So be careful on the amounts you use.

Alfalfa can be brewed in many different ways.

One way is to just throw a handful into 5 gallons of tepid water and let it soak for a day or so. This method is called passive. The longer you soak it the stronger it will become. There will be organic matter left over after soaking. So before using it just strain it with some #2 panty hose from the dollar store. Or if you do not mind the organic matter, just pour into you container and it will serve as a top dressing.

Another way is to grind the Alfalfa into a meal and place it into a #2 panty hose and brew a tea in the same way as before but adding a fish pump and an air stone. This is the method I prefer to use. During this process, I add Molasses from the Health food store. This will add in feeding the Beneficial Bacteria in the tea. These bacteria are called aerobic bacteria. . The aerobic micro-herd populations fight diseases and bad soil and plant pathogens better and supply more power to your soil's total health and texture. Some people like to use different additives to the tea mix….like Earth Juice Caytlst. Which is fine but I prefer just Molasses and sometimes will add other things if I am going to use it as a soil drench. For foliar feeding I like to use one feeding ingredient by itself.

When mixing a tea, I take about 2 cups of ground up alfalfa meal to 4 gallons of water. I use old drywall bucket from off jobsites. You can also purchase 5 gallon buckets from Home Depot. Another source is restaurants…..they have food grade buckets that boiled eggs come in. I then add 1 TBS of molasses per gallon of water. You then add your fish tank air stone and begin the brewing process. I brew for about 48 hours. You can now take the brewed tea and either use as a foliar spray or as a soil drench. Just like any other fertilizer be careful not to burn your plants. I like to dilute everything that I foliar feed with. Remember, Less=Better. You can always add to but never take away.

Alfalfa meal can also be used as a Nitrogen fertilizer soil additive. I said meal because you do not want to use it in the pellet form. Doing that would cause “hot spots” in the soil mixture. I use about 2 to 3 TBS per gallon of soil. If you are uncertain how heavy of a feeder your plants are stick with just 2 TBS per gallon of mix.

I hope someone will find this useful. It has given me great results in the past. It is just one of many ways to feed our beloved plants.

Good reading and good growing.

Your friendly neighborhood grower, Von

[BurnOne]

vonforne-
Alfalfa is good stuff as you know. I add as much worm castings to my teabag (nylon stocking) as alfalfa which adds plenty of humates and microbes to the tea.
Good work (again).
Burn1

[bounty29]

Great info, really makes me want to get started with my grow and give it a shot. Thanks von!

[Dignan]

Really nice Von. I recently incorporated alfalfa into my program. About 2 tbsp per gallon of soil in my seedling mix and then as a soil drench, just the way you do it with the bubbler.

I bought a 50-lb bag of alfalfa "cubes" from a feed store for $5.99. Saved 1/2 and gave the other half to one of my many equestrian friends.

Peace-
Dig

[Deft]

I have a rabbit so I have plenty areound, I think I'll do that on my next tea... brewing my first now.

Is it ok to just put in compost and stir rather than using a sock? I have the airstone and the 5gal from home chepo and used blackstrap and homemade compost that was WELL broken down and pitch black... should I be ok?

Originally Posted by Deft

I have a rabbit so I have plenty areound, I think I'll do that on my next tea... brewing my first now.

Is it ok to just put in compost and stir rather than using a sock? I have the airstone and the 5gal from home chepo and used blackstrap and homemade compost that was WELL broken down and pitch black... should I be ok?

Ya you can just add the ingredients to the bucket instead of a "tea bag". I have done it this way when I am lazy. It adds organic matter to the container like a top dressing.

Its just not as messy using the "sock" method. And it keeps the organic matter from foaming out of the bucket.

V

Another good read by Von. Thanks
I like using alfalfa too. I leave the organic material in and use it as top dressing and eventually mixes into the reused soil.

[muddy waters]

i didn't see any mention of the fact that alfalfa pellets sold in pet stores (for rabbits etc) often contain salt. you do NOT want to use that, unless you want to watch your buds dry themselves out right on the vine... trust me i've done it, it sucks. so be careful to look at the label of your pellets.

Originally Posted by muddy waters

i didn't see any mention of the fact that alfalfa pellets sold in pet stores (for rabbits etc) often contain salt. you do NOT want to use that, unless you want to watch your buds dry themselves out right on the vine... trust me i've done it, it sucks. so be careful to look at the label of your pellets.

Thanks Muddy for that. That might be the reason my leaves are messed up on this grow. I stopped foliar feeding with the alfalfa and it stopped. I will have to check it out. It said PURE alfalfa on the bag. It is that or I burnt them with to heavy of a foliar.

V

[Danknuggler]

thanx vonforne as this will make my teas just perfect now i think.from now on my teas will be made of 1 TBS of each of these ingredients:bat guano, worm cast, mollasses,alfalfa, and some added kelp also. of course the type of guano i use will change for veg and flower.i love my new pump and airstone as i used to let sit and occasionally shake my tea now i'm getting some foamin and frothin going on now.nice thread keep em comin. nuggler