Alfalfa Tea

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Guano

311
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Building a better alfalfa tea with the 3LB

There are many benefits to using an old fashioned alfalfa tea on your growing herbs . . . alfalfa is a natural and renewable resource which means it's use as a fertilizer is especially earth friendly . . . and alfalfa has a "secret ingredient" that stimulates plant growth . . .

triaconatol is a fatty acid growth hormone found in alfalfa . . . it is especially good for increasing growth rates during vegetative growth . . . and we call it a "secret ingredient" because we understand it's "hidden" in the composition of the commercial product "Super Thrive" . . .

one sure way to get triaconatol to your growing plants is a foliar feeding . . . some folks will use a recipe as simple as a couple handfuls of alfalfa into 5 gallons of water . . . soak overnight and then use . . . and that works . . .

but our goal is to build a better alfalfa tea . . . and here's what's working at the "bird's nest" . . .

some folks get pellets . . . our preference is alfalfa meal . . . which we've seen even cheaper than the pellets . . . pellets are fine . . . but we think the meal mixes more evenly as a soil amendment (in addition to making great teas) . . . the meal mix avoids "hot spots" of concentrated alfalfa in the soil that might burn delicate roots as alfalfa decays . . .

when we first mix our alfalfa tea . . . we use about 2 cups of meal for something in the range of 4 gallons of water . . . we mix our teas in 5 gallon gasoline cans bought specifically for the garden . . .

then we add some Earth Juice Catalyst . . . about 1 tsp per gallon . . . our thinking is that the EJ Catalyst provides sugars and yeasts to assist in turning the alfalfa into nutrients absorbable by plants . . . it helps to delay the inevitable alfalfa tea stink as well . . .

this soaks 24-48 hours . . . a aquarium bubble rock can be used to aerate the mix if you are already set up for such . . . if you don't have a bubble . . . don't despair . . . just swish the mix by hand a few times . . . agitating and aerating the tea . . . that will do as a sub for the airstone . . .

the longer the alfalfa soaks the stronger the resulting liquid will be . . . at the bird's nest . . . we usually use our teas after 24-48 hours of soaking . . . we'll dump off about 1/2 of the mix = 2 gallons . . . dumping the brewed tea through a cheap nylon stocking to strain out the alfalfa particles . . . the resulting alfalfa tea is useful for foliar feeding as well as general watering . . .

then . . . any strained plant matter is returned to the mixture in the 5 gallon can . . . and we also add 2 more gallons of fresh water to "top off" the tea again . . . then we add about 4 TBSP of molasses to the tea . . . that's 1 TBSP per gallon . . . and then we let the tea "brew" or bubble for another 24 hours . . . the added molasses feeds beneficial bacteria . . . and again helps to avoid the dreaded alfalfa tea = horse manure smell . . .
finally then . . . the "re-brewed" tea is used to water plants . . . if you care to strain out the alfalfa particles they can be added to the compost heap or worm bin . . . if you don't want to bother straining out the alfalfa particles that's fine too . . . they will leave a light layer of green particles on the soil surface . . . almost as if you'd "top dressed" your plants .
 
G

Guano

311
18
like to do the soak method with alfalfa or compost it, the quick tea method does work but the results you get arent nearly as good. take a gallon bucket (this will make around 10-20 gallons diluted) fill it 1/3 full with alfalfa meal and put water to the top. cover with lid so mosquitoes dont get in your perfect environment for them. let sit in a sunny/shady are for a few weeks to a month. come back strain and dilute alfalfa extract:Water 1:10-1:20 (1:10 being stronger dose than 1:20) and foliar spray it at about 1:30. works GREAT in veg try not to use it in flower as much.

Alfalfa ingredients:

* Triacontanol (growth stimulant)
* Vitamin A (high concentration)
* Thiamine
* Riboflavin
* Pantothenic Acid
* Niacin
* Pyridoxine
* Choline
* Bentaine
* Folic Acid
* co-enzymes
* Crude proteins (16 - 25% in dry alfalfa)

Amino acids (% in alfalfa meal).

* Tryptophan, 0.3 %
* Aspartic Acid, 2.3%
* Threonine, 1.0 %
* Serine, 1.0%
* Glutamic Acid, 2.7%
* Proline, 1.2%
* Glycine, 1.1%
* Alanine, 1.1%
* Cystine, 0.2%
* Valine, 1.0%
* Methionine, 0.3%
* Isoleucine, 0.8%
* Leucine, 1.6%
* Tyrosine, 0.5%
* Phenylalanine, 1.0%
* Histidine, 0.4%
* Lysine, Total, 1.1%
* Arginine, 1.1%

Minerals (contained in dry alfalfa)

* Nitrogen 3.75-5.5 %
* Potassium .75 - 3.5 %
* Phosphorus .3 - .7%
* Calcium 1 - 2 %
* Magnesium .30 - 1 %
* Sulphur .2 - .5 %
* Manganese 30-200 ppm
* Iron 20-250 ppm
* Boron 20-80 ppm
* Copper 5-20 ppm
* Zinc 20-70 ppm
 
Kosmo

Kosmo

34
8
Nice write up

nice write up bro..
i recently fell in love with alfalfa teas myself, and found that quite a few farmers around the valley use a mix something similar to this-
Foliar Alfalfa Tea:
1/3 cup Alfalfa Meal 2.5-1-1
1/3 cup Earth Worm Castings 1-0-0
1/3 cup Kelp Meal 1-.01-2
1 tsp. Rock dust
(That makes the "dry mix". You can make all you want and save it to use later.)
Mix with water @ 1tsp(5ml) of dry mix into a 1/2gal(2.5ltrs) of water to make the tea.
To that 1/2gal(2.5ltrs) of tea add:
1/2tsp Fulvic Acid
1/2tsp Black Strap Molasses
Brew for 24hrs @ 70F.Strain mix.Spray plants,1/3 above the leaves,2/3 below the leaves.Once a Week

sorry for the old bump, but this thread is pritty relevant these days
 
T

Time

Guest
nice write up bro..
i recently fell in love with alfalfa teas myself, and found that quite a few farmers around the valley use a mix something similar to this-
Foliar Alfalfa Tea:
1/2 cup Alfalfa Meal 2.5-1-1
1/2 cup Earth Worm Castings 1-0-0
1 tsp. Rock dust
(That makes the "dry mix". You can make all you want and save it to use later.)
Mix with water @ 1tsp(5ml) of dry mix into a 1/2gal(2.5ltrs) of water to make the tea.
To that 1/2gal(2.5ltrs) of tea add:
1/2tsp Fulvic Acid
1/2tsp Black Strap Molasses
Brew for 24hrs @ 70F.Strain mix.Spray plants,1/3 above the leaves,2/3 below the leaves.Once a Week

sorry for the old bump, but this thread is pritty relevant these days

Nice mix man. I like to add in some guano, ewc, seaweed, and other goodies as well.
 
Barefrog

Barefrog

47
8
Hey gang

I've been using teas for
awhile now and it works
great.
I like the dry Molasses you
can get at the feed co-op
it mix well in soil to feed the
little one and it also dissolve
when put in the teas.

Bare
 
0

0sWizZle

Guest
I foliar feed everyday with triaconatol in veg aka Ultraboost from Primary Products...been only doing this for a month now...and shit...i've used it with the lights on ..no burn or twisted leaves....it says on the bottle it increases Photosynthesis....can be sprayed on plants that are dying from winter freeze..and spray on clones...so far..i had some clones that looked toasted...and a few day later new growth...and my plants in flowering seem bushier to me..although..the true test will be my clones i'm foliar feeding right now with it..the bottle says use daily for 3 weeks...i'm like 14 days in on my clones from cut.....theres menthol in this mix..not sure what its used for though
 
L

lonewolf99

Guest
I just bought a 20 kilo sack of Alfalfa horse feed pellets and 20 gallons of molasses, I'll report on my experiments later.
 
BOSSMAN88188

BOSSMAN88188

894
48
Enjoyed the read thanks to all that chimed in.
Bump it back up.
 
500lbs Guerilla

500lbs Guerilla

334
63
Guano has a lot of good info. Re-bumping to the top for all the new farmers
 
G

Guano17z

2
0
Hi I have been following your recipes. And well I am trying them out for outdoor this year. And was wondering if maybe u could give me a little advice. I have already 3 to 4 foot plants to transplant outdoors. And was wondering of a good tea schedule for them. Also a good foliar spray ingredients and instructions. For foliar I was planning on using 1/2 cup worm casting. 1/2 alfalfa meal, 3tbsp molasses and one teaspoon of humid acid. Then 4 gallons of chlorine free water and brew at 24 hrs.

For the veg mix u made. How often should I feed them this? It has seabirds guano and other strOng ingredients in it. Thank u so much for ur time.
 
B

Buddy Hemphill

Guest
search Guano's name.

Dude knows his shit.

His recipies are the bomb. I started my 'tea voyage' using his recipies.. and still use them.
 
curandero2012

curandero2012

94
18
Good thread :yes

The American Rose Society has a writing about the value of Alfalfa



Namaste :bong2:
 
Dunge

Dunge

2,233
263
I wanted to be the first to bump this thread into 2012.
My question is, can I overdo it with alfalfa tea.
Only been brewing for a few weeks and the plants look better than ever.
If I use tea for every watering will I run into trouble?
 
C

claudacio

45
8
I'll go ahead and give it the 2nd bump for 2012, where does one get things like alfalfa meal, kelp meal, rice hulls etc...

I live in a city and the best I can hope for is a home depot locally, but if I travel a little bit I can get out to the country-ish places but I've never seen any place that carries this stuff, there was a couple "Agway" stores around that I went and checked out but the only plant products they carried were miracle grow, home depot has a better selection of organic products than that place.

Everyone says "feed stores" what is a feed store and how do I find one?
 
leadsled

leadsled

GrowRU
2,145
263
I'll go ahead and give it the 2nd bump for 2012, where does one get things like alfalfa meal, kelp meal, rice hulls etc...

I live in a city and the best I can hope for is a home depot locally, but if I travel a little bit I can get out to the country-ish places but I've never seen any place that carries this stuff, there was a couple "Agway" stores around that I went and checked out but the only plant products they carried were miracle grow, home depot has a better selection of organic products than that place.

Everyone says "feed stores" what is a feed store and how do I find one?

Feed stores are people buy farm supplies, horse feed etc. Search google or look in the yellow pages.

You could also contact down to earth dist. There are many dist, they are just one.

They can probably point you in the right direction as far as a retailer that carries there products.

Easy way to get it:
Search google for down to earth alfalfa meal and you will have multiple sources to purchase from. Amazon is one spot.
 
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