Alfalfa tea in flower

[guest2012y]

soil building. I love it. I am always been on a budget and get this and that as they come or when money grants it. So, my soil gets built over time. My newest thing is Bone meal mixed with dolomite lime...50\50. I also have a Horn meal and Bone meal also 50\50. They add in perfect to my program of soil building. My next thing is the items from CTguy...Humic acids and Sea Kelp his company carries.

V

I think one of the coolest things is that each of us (who understand this trip) build soil in a different way,but the processes are pretty much the same.
There is no "mine's better and yours isn't" BS

We each have quality product to show for our efforts despite what V uses,me,or CC,or anyone who can recycle soil mixes for indoor use.

 

[master shake]

Hey not trying to hijack the thread but had a quick Q...

In my backyard there is a bunch of alfalfa growing, can the fresh stuff be used in a tea (boiled maybe?) or does it need to be composted?

 

[guest2012y]

Hey not trying to hijack the thread but had a quick Q...

In my backyard there is a bunch of alfalfa growing, can the fresh stuff be used in a tea (boiled maybe?) or does it need to be composted?

Look up Jaykush's threads on teas.

 

[FreshlyShaven]

I also haven't seen this addressed elsewhere; the only cheap local sources for alfalfa are either alfalfa leaf or seed. Could alfalfa leaf be used in place of alfalfa hay or would I need to modify the recipe? Any ideas?

 

[Clackamas Coot]

I can't imagine not using the Alfalfa

treefrog

There are 3 things that I would consider mandatory to grow food or medicine and they're not necessarily in this order, per se:

1. Earthworm castings
2. Alfalfa meal
3. Neem tree seed products

Anything else can be replaced easily. If it weren't for alfalfa's triacontanol component it could be easily replaced as well by substituting another seed meal like flax or canola/rape seed.

CC

 

[Clackamas Coot]

I also haven't seen this addressed elsewhere; the only cheap local sources for alfalfa are either alfalfa leaf or seed. Could alfalfa leaf be used in place of alfalfa hay or would I need to modify the recipe? Any ideas?

What exactly are these sources? Are the alfalfa seeds 'whole' or are they a 'powder'?

In in any kind of quantity, alfalfa is always cheap - chump change. Nada. Zilch.

One of the reasons that it's not promoted by the cannabis growing 'industry' - no money in pushing an effective and inexpensive agent like alfalfa meal.

CC

 

[Clackamas Coot]

My next thing is the items from CTguy...Humic acids and Sea Kelp his company carries.

V

Vonforne

Both of CT's products are first-cabin. I bought a lb. of his humic acid about a year or so back for a friend who was setting up his medical garden.

A product that you might also want to consider is KELPAK that is manufactured in South Africa. This extract is processed differently from Maxicrop or Acadian Seaplants, et cal.

KELPAK uses a mechanical extraction process where the 'juice' of the kelp is pressed out and no chemicals or cooking is involved. They're working with fresh kelp according to their published information.

It's clear like water and should be pretty inexpensive. In the states the only distributor that I know of, Hydro-Gardens.com sells a quart bottle for around $15.50 and 1 liter mixes out to 85 gallons.

From what I've read, KELPAK is easily available in Europe which would make sense given the shipping and logistics costs involved moving product into the US.

In case you're interested in experimenting with something new.

CC

 

[FreshlyShaven]

What exactly are these sources? Are the alfalfa seeds 'whole' or are they a 'powder'?

In in any kind of quantity, alfalfa is always cheap - chump change. Nada. Zilch.

One of the reasons that it's not promoted by the cannabis growing 'industry' - no money in pushing an effective and inexpensive agent like alfalfa meal.

CC

Everything I can find locally is either treated with antibiotics or salt(pet stores) or in the forms I mentioned above(from a hippy-dippy local coop). I can find some online but they're sold in large quantities and the shipping charges are terrible. I just wanted to see if chopped dried alfalfa leaf or sprouted seeds could substitute for pellets or if I should just buck up and pay the shipping charges.

 

[CannaExists]

Everything I can find locally is either treated with antibiotics or salt(pet stores) or in the forms I mentioned above(from a hippy-dippy local coop). I can find some online but they're sold in large quantities and the shipping charges are terrible. I just wanted to see if chopped dried alfalfa leaf or sprouted seeds could substitute for pellets or if I should just buck up and pay the shipping charges.

Alfalfa leaf should work perfect! If it's chopped coarsely you may want to chop it finer if you can. Grinding however much you need at a time up in a food processor or some kind of manual milling machine would do the trickaroo.

As for the alfalfa sprouts, those are a whole different ballgame. I can't picture them not being beneficial, but I've personally read nothing about anybody using it. I'm interested in using sprouts, as a matteroffact I have a sprout Fermented Plant Extract cookin' in the basement.

 

[vonforne]

Vonforne

Both of CT's products are first-cabin. I bought a lb. of his humic acid about a year or so back for a friend who was setting up his medical garden.

A product that you might also want to consider is KELPAK that is manufactured in South Africa. This extract is processed differently from Maxicrop or Acadian Seaplants, et cal.

KELPAK uses a mechanical extraction process where the 'juice' of the kelp is pressed out and no chemicals or cooking is involved. They're working with fresh kelp according to their published information.

It's clear like water and should be pretty inexpensive. In the states the only distributor that I know of, Hydro-Gardens.com sells a quart bottle for around $15.50 and 1 liter mixes out to 85 gallons.

From what I've read, KELPAK is easily available in Europe which would make sense given the shipping and logistics costs involved moving product into the US.

In case you're interested in experimenting with something new.

CC

Everything I now have is new CC. I love doing that......trying new things. Just look at the shit I have been doing the last few years......moving around. LOL

I will look them up tonight.

V

 

[JackTheGrower]

From my point of view, organic soil can be thought of as a battery. Especially with nitrogen.

So if we maintain a soil we will add materials over time and thus keep the "charge" up. Nitrogen is like a battery in that over time it's energy runs down. For example if a soil sit fallow a year we can expect a low level of nitrogen in a soil that is biologically active,

I have done much of nothing for flowering this time out except that Witches Brew thread I made here.

So adding nitrogen in flowering could prolong grow time. That's the worst I can think of for a light application.

 

[dune]

Hey jack thanks for stopping by. How did the witches brew ever work. Im still drawing mine up for my new outdoor veggie garden. But as far as i can see no time delay in flowering has been cause what so ever.

I got my guerrilla grow of Russian comfrey going so i cant wait to get to use that. And today i went out and got around 10 pound of stinging nettles. Plus 2 gallons of wild blackberries YUM!
random thought, is there anything i can do with the berries, perhaps a tea or turning them to ash, or feed my worms.

Unfortunately thought during my bed rest time the damn Borg came back on my next harvest-able plant...... to neem or not to neem tat is the question lol.

ALSO Jay if you can find this forum and chimed in more of the organic goodies and how u use them it would be awesome.

such as the tip with using horsetail during the transition week.
all those little tricks are extremely cool at making my grows work for a little sweat and love and no money.


Also if you guys had a 17 foot by 5 foot by 7 foot space would you.....
Use it as a perpetual using 4 40 gallon Rubbermaid, 8 plants per bin. Cut off bottoms of 1 gallon grow bags and plant half way down allowing all the roots to grow into the flowerings soil. well that top half of the grow bag is my safety zone for my micros. Also im planing on doing this with massive scrog screens to take all the space. If this make sense to anyone. Do you think it will work or will my plants compete for space to much? Veg time will be 3 weeks.
Soil mixes and tea line coming after this blunt

 

[Weedzilla710]

I feed an alfalfa & kelp tea 1x per week through Week 4 in flower.

What problems are you concerned about?

CC

CC, I have a few questions about the tea. What solution do you feed the tea at the different weeks? And I heard that the triacantanol is produced in the foam of the alfalfa tea...do you know if this is true?

 

[Weedzilla710]

What dilution*

 

[Microbeman]

From 2010 really?

 

[Scrappy4]

CC, I have a few questions about the tea. What solution do you feed the tea at the different weeks? And I heard that the triacantanol is produced in the foam of the alfalfa tea...do you know if this is true?

Not CC, but I've heard of him.

I use about one cup of alfalfa meal.per five gallons of alfalfa tea. Also I add a tsp of molasses and bubble that for 30-36 hours. And I use this up to week 5/in flower.

I doubt there is any special.quality in the
foam. I add a couple drops of fish oil if I get foam to stop messes. And the tea works just fine.

You can also soak alfalfa meal in water for a day or two, strain, dilute to a lite tea color. And use as a foliar feeding. Also works great in veg.

 

[Weedzilla710]

So when you drench or foliar, you don't do a 1:5 dilution of the tea or something close to that? Full strength? I didn't use molasses, mostly interested in the hormones and nutrients provided by the alfalfa and kelp. I have plenty of microbes in my soil.

 

[Scrappy4]

So when you drench or foliar, you don't do a 1:5 dilution of the tea or something close to that? Full strength? I didn't use molasses, mostly interested in the hormones and nutrients provided by the alfalfa and kelp. I have plenty of microbes in my soil.

What adding molasses and bubbling that long does is that i
t rehydrates a slightly higher lifeform of microbe into the tea than the standard bacteria and fungus. It makes nutrient cycling speed up quite a bit.

I used to just hydrate the alfalfa meal, but got this tip from Microbeman some years ago. It works to like a charm, and IMHO well worth trying.

 

[Phases]

Hey I just mixed up a tea using alfalfa 2cups and I put 1 1/2 cups of EWC in a stocking then added 2 tbls of molasses - put 2 air stones and it is just bubbling now. Does this sound like a good way to make a tea and I can also use as a foilar feed as well right?
I am new to doing teas and this is my first shot.

Also can anyone tell me if this tea would also be good to feed my pots of promix that I use GH micro/bloom nutes? Or does mixing teas with synthetic nutrients not a good idea?
Any input will help - thank you.

 

[Phases]

Yeah I be been bubbling for about 24 hours and I was unsure if I should feed it on top of having already been feeding GH nutrients - there in the first week of flower but looking a little light for this stage so I figured some alfalfa tea with some EWC
May do the trick.
So do I just feed full strength ?
I put 2 cups of pellets in 5 gals of water. Any thoughts ?