Alfalfa Tea for the Garden

3 years ago
59

Alfalfa tea is a liquid extraction of some of the nutrients and organic compounds in alfalfa - applied in the garden or in a plant container it provides relatively balanced nutrition to plants. Here I describe a simple mix: alfalfa and water for around 24 hours. Some recipes are much more complicated, including additional nutrients sources and organic additives, a fermentation stage, and even aeration. I'm not convinced that a tea (aerated or not) provides additional benefits in comparison to a direct application of alfalfa pellets to the soil. Here's one article discussing the science on compost tea: https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/403/2015/03/compost-tea-2.pdf Here's one more summary https://extension.illinois.edu/blogs/good-growing/2019-08-14-compost-tea-miracle-product-or-snake-oil I found another study where alfalfa tea applied at different rates did improve root growth - and more was better: but isn't this what we would expect? More nutrients should certainly help in growth (especially in a deficient soil) but I'd expect it tow work equally well with the addition of alfalfa directly or even with conventional fertilizer.

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