Alfalfa Meal is a great all-natural fertilizer prepared from fermented alfalfa seeds and plants. It’s commonly utilized in organic gardening and gives flowering plants a huge boost.
The trace minerals in alfalfa meals offer extra nutrition to flowering shrubs and perennials, allowing them to bloom faster and keep their blossoms longer throughout the season.
It boosts agricultural productivity, improves soil quality, and does a lot more. In contrast to chemical fertilizers, which frequently have a strong, artificial odor, the substance is airy and light and smells good and earthy.
Alfalfa fertilizer is inexpensive, and it’s commonly sold in 50-pound containers at any animal feed store.
Apply the product to your blossoming shrubs and perennials, as well as your garden and compost pile or bin.
Can Alfalfa Meal Burn Plants
Alfalfa and other organic fertilizers are obtained primarily from natural sources. Because the meal lasts a long time in the soil, you only have to fertilize it once or twice a season.
Chemical fertilizers that are concentrated might quickly burn and harm your plants.
Alfalfa Meal In The Garden
The following are steps on how to use alfalfa meal in the garden:
It’s not difficult to figure out how to use an alfalfa meal. It’s crucial how much you use, but it’s more probable that you won’t use enough than that you will use too much.
Around rose bushes or other shrubs of that size, spray around 2 cups (473 ml) of the food.
Add a thick line of the meal beside hedges and saturate large plantings with it. Water the plants as usual after working the alfalfa meal into the soil with a rake.
When your plants start to show new growth in the spring, apply the first dose. Plants that just bloom once a year do not require any further feeding.
If you have blossoming flowers that last for a longer period, apply another treatment every six weeks.
Because alfalfa meal is alkaline, it should not be used with plants that favor acidic soil, like camellias and rhododendrons. Wear a face mask when spreading it in the garden because it can be fairly powdery.
Lastly, store any remaining alfalfa meal in a safe metal or sturdy plastic container. Mice eat a lot of the meal and will gnaw through any bags that are left in storage.
Can You Use Alfalfa As Mulch?
Alfalfa hay is an excellent mulching material since it is usually harvested before the seeds can germinate. Alfalfa is high in nitrogen and lasts a long time when used as mulch.
When utilized as mulch, leaves are fantastic, and as they decompose, they provide nutrients to the soil. Leaves, on the other hand, are scarce in the spring.
What Does Alfalfa Meal Do For Plants?
Alfalfa meal contains a growth hormone (triacontanol) that aids in the growth of plant roots.
It also boosts photosynthesis and raises beneficial soil microorganisms. Nematodes can also be reduced by adding alfalfa pellets or meal to your soil.
How Often Should You Use Alfalfa Meal?
When your plants start showing new growth in the spring, apply the first treatment.
Plants that just bloom once a year do not require any further feeding. If you have blossoming flowers that last for a longer period, apply another treatment every six weeks.
How Long Does It Take For Alfalfa Meal To Break Down?
The result is silage, or haylage, as alfalfa silage is also known. The natural sugars break down after roughly two weeks under anaerobic circumstances.
Disadvantages Of Alfalfa Meal
The following are the disadvantages of alfalfa meal:
On plants that like acidic soil, resist using alfalfa pellets or meal. Because the product is highly alkaline, it is not recommended for plants like rhododendrons, camellias, or blueberries.
Please be aware that the ‘meal’ is highly powdery and uncomfortable to inhale. Before you start throwing around in your garden, make sure you have your facemask and goggles on.
Note that alfalfa pellets are not only delicious but also very appealing to wild animals.
Keep your meal in a metal garbage can or other metal containers with a sturdy lid.
If you allow open bags in your garden shed, mice will almost certainly chew holes in them and devour your fertilizer.
