If you’ve ever been around horses, you know how much they enjoy alfalfa feed. It’s also a terrific natural fertilizer agent for blossoming plants, according to organic gardeners.
Alfalfa meal fertilizer includes trace ingredients that assist blooming perennials and shrubs bloom more quickly and for longer throughout the season.
Fermented alfalfa plant seeds are used to make this organic garden enhancer. It has a bright, airy appearance and a lovely, earthy scent.
Because you use alfalfa meal liberally around all of your blooming perennials and shrubs, it usually comes in enormous quantities.
Although alfalfa meal is available at some major garden centers, it is likely to be cheaper and simpler to obtain in feed and animal supply stores.
Check if you live close to a rural area or if you have access to an all-purpose animal supply store.
As a backup source for alfalfa meal or information on where to acquire it, visit the relevant large veterinarian’s office.
As good as Alfalfa Meal is to the garden, it can also Attract Rodents? like most plants and we’ll be checking that out in this article.
Does Alfalfa Meal Attract Rodents?
While rodents do not seem to be interested in alfalfa meal once it has been worked into the soil, if you keep a bag of it out, it will appear as if every mouse in Western Washington has come to your yard for a delicious feast.
Alfalfa is particularly appealing to small animals like rabbits, and also juvenile game birds like quail and wild turkeys, who require both cover and sustenance.
Therefore, if alfalfa is abundant, rats, mice, voles, and rabbits will all consume it, and consistent usage of alfalfa may boost rodent numbers in the garden.
Demerits Of Alfalfa Meal
It generates heat when it decomposes. If you’re attempting to heat your compost tumbler, this is wonderful! However, using too much alfalfa meal in your planters can cause the soil to overheat.
A careful application can help to limit the risk of overheating. But what are the other drawbacks of alfalfa in the garden?
Livestock feed is made from pellet or cubed variants of this soil supplement. It also serves as a source of food for rodents. Mice, rats, rabbits, and other rodents may come to your garden beds to look for food.
If you have a problem with field mice, utilize loose meals rather than pelleted or cubed forms. It should be worked into the top layer of your soil. The rodent population will be reduced as a result of this.
In addition, molasses or other additives are frequently added to alfalfa fodder. While the sugars in these compounds will not hurt your garden, they will hasten bacterial growth.
This is fantastic for good bacteria! Those of us who have battled a bacterial plant disease, on the other hand, may want to wait, at least until the harmful bacterium has vanished.
Seeds may be put in with lower-cost products. While this isn’t often an issue, you should be informed that if you buy low-grade alfalfa, you can get alfalfa sprouts!
Watering in can result in matting or clumping. This may prevent moisture from penetrating for a short time. This problem should be avoided by loosely mixing the dirt via your fertilizer.
Lastly, alfalfa pellets or cubes can turn dark and unappealing in a garden as they decompose. If you choose, you can just cover them with mulch.
Alternatively, it’s preferable to soak the pellets or cubes in water until they disintegrate. This ensures a balanced distribution.
How To Make Alfalfa Tea
Alfalfa meal is also used to make alfalfa tea, which is popular among organic gardeners.
This can be accomplished in a variety of ways, including just soaking the meal in water for a day or two. You’ll want to stir it a couple of times, however, you don’t have to go wild with it.
Read also: How to Make Alfalfa Meal Step By Step
When brewing compost teas using air pumps, you can also use alfalfa meal. It’ll be a microbial food that can aid in providing a food supply for the bacteria in the compost you’re attempting to reproduce.
In a compost tea, a little goes a long way, and a typical amount for a 5-gallon tea would be ⅛ to ¼ cup.
