Originally Posted by muddy waters

good advice potdoc, if you're gonna use alfalfa outdoors the best option is to plant it as a cover crop in the winter.

Nice post!

About cheep alfalfa isn't a bail just about the easiest?

Have to find "Organically grown" IMO..

and How do we know our alfalfa is organic?

Least we forget

I seen some questions on this and Master B1 has made a thread also. So instead of retyping ( I´m lazy) I bumped this thread up from its grave.

V

[MrFista]

I'm interested in using fresh alfalfa sprouts too. I just put a tea on to test how they go. Few days before I use it.

I blended a handful of 'greened up' (put in sunlight to colour) alfalfa sprouts in a blender with some water.
The water (2 gallons) is from a limestone buffered pond, this (I think) helps beak down organic matter when used in a tea. It adds organic acids, nitrate and calcium at any rate.
A handful of good black compost with pumice bits in it (wee bacterial condos).
A tsp of Blackstrap Unsulfured Molasses - we need an abbreviation -> BUM.
tsp EJ microblast
1/2 tsp EJ meta K

I'll strain it in a few days and water it in some plants then report back.

Originally Posted by MrFista

I'm interested in using fresh alfalfa sprouts too. I just put a tea on to test how they go. Few days before I use it.

I blended a handful of 'greened up' (put in sunlight to colour) alfalfa sprouts in a blender with some water.
The water (2 gallons) is from a limestone buffered pond, this (I think) helps beak down organic matter when used in a tea. It adds organic acids, nitrate and calcium at any rate.
A handful of good black compost with pumice bits in it (wee bacterial condos).
A tsp of Blackstrap Unsulfured Molasses - we need an abbreviation -> BUM.
tsp EJ microblast
1/2 tsp EJ meta K

I'll strain it in a few days and water it in some plants then report back.

I never got around to trying sprouts but I do eat them quite often. I did have another poster at another site tell me he used fresh grown alfalfa to produce a tea with great results. Both on his tomatoes and plants.

I like the pond water idea. I might have to dip out some water from a near by river here in the EU. It is mountain fed.

When you finish the test let us know the results.

V

[jaykush]

river/pond water is the best for teas! look for the right locations and you can find very beneficial microbes. each stream and creek and river has its own specific micro culture, i have a few spots i love to go collect a few gallons. the species of plants and terrain has a lot to do with whats in there. V you should collect some water lil downstream of a nettles patch. always good shit.

Originally Posted by jaykush

river/pond water is the best for teas! look for the right locations and you can find very beneficial microbes. each stream and creek and river has its own specific micro culture, i have a few spots i love to go collect a few gallons. the species of plants and terrain has a lot to do with whats in there. V you should collect some water lil downstream of a nettles patch. always good shit.

Thats great to hear.....there are nettles ever where here and I mean every where. So, finding some down stream will be no problem. There is also a large see (lake) here that is also close by.

And I also have a large stand of forest close by to collect fungi. I will detail that in my upcoming grow thread along with the pond water collection.

We have to spread the word more so people will not feed the commercial industry with those hard earned dollars.

Thanks again JK.

V

Great article, alfalfa is wonderful stuff.

Couple more points I'd add:

1. We use organic alfalfa because I've tried stuff before that had been exposed to chemicals and was unable to get any microorganisms to show up under the microscope, even after brewing for a few days.

2. I experimented with alfalfa trying to make a protozoa tea. What worked best for me was about 3/4 c. organic alfalfa meal and 3/4 c. vermicompost. After 24 hours I had consistently high levels of protozoa and bacteria, and some fungal hyphae.

3. You can add it to your compost also as an activator to "wake up" the organisms, about 10 days before brewing.

Cheers,
T

Originally Posted by CT Guy

Great article, alfalfa is wonderful stuff.

Couple more points I'd add:

1. We use organic alfalfa because I've tried stuff before that had been exposed to chemicals and was unable to get any microorganisms to show up under the microscope, even after brewing for a few days.

2. I experimented with alfalfa trying to make a protozoa tea. What worked best for me was about 3/4 c. organic alfalfa meal and 3/4 c. vermicompost. After 24 hours I had consistently high levels of protozoa and bacteria, and some fungal hyphae.

3. You can add it to your compost also as an activator to "wake up" the organisms, about 10 days before brewing.

Cheers,
T

Nice post Tad. I love using alfalfa. I believe it is a great alternative to using guanos or blood meal for a N source.

Thanks.

V

[MrFista]

Jaykush you are a legend mate. You've helped me so often without knowing it I want to just say - thank you!

And many others including Vonforne, you have made this place an outstanding resource. Thank you!

River water by nettles = now you're talking! Beautiful stuff. For dirt plants there is no risk of cross contamination provided you do not splash the water on the plants. Some ducks carry botulism...

If you can get a wee bit of the mulm from a bottom that is exposed to sunlight (leaf litter and sludge on the bottom) do so. You'll be collecting humus. And an excellent portion of nitrifying bacteria and fungal hyphae.

The water line right on the bank is also an excellent source of bacteria and fungi.

My teas looking good, two days til ground zero...

On removing corporate ties to gardens - YES!

Now how do I brew all this fish without steenking out my neighbours?

Did another alfalfa sprout experiment this week that I forgot to tell about it.

Mates plants were flowered a bit early. On 2 weeks (stretch over) just a bit too short and stunted.

Added 10 ml alfalfa juice, 5 ml liquid kelp, 5 ml molasses. Shook it up in a litre of fish water and added to grow. (plants passively fed nothing but fish water up to this stage)

Plants took off, stretched 2 inches in first day - could have been just the kelp?... And greened up nicely they were looking in need of nitrate and potassium.

That was only yesterday, very happy owner. More reports to follow.

Originally Posted by vonforne

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.

"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"."

============================== ==========================


This I believe is nothing but rumor.... that superthrive contains triaconatol.... I believe it was shown on overgrow where this rumor originated....

But I do not think a credible ref can be found.....

However....

Alfalfa is good stuff.....