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The Netherlands

hello

in holland i am not able to get any fish or kelp,now i heard that i should make an alfalfa tea.
we have lots of alfalfa but i dont know how to make a tea of it,can anyone tel me how to do it??
and what is the best time to add it to the plant?

thanks a lot!

8/1/2006 4:06:58 PM

Montoursville, PA

I do not think we have many if any growers that expressly use live plant based teas. You may have to dig into the organic grower or management books, to get an answer.

I know that a hundred years ago my grandparents made manure tea and added live plant material each item they assured others added it's value. In this case time was included, for the live plant material, to ferment, and become supporting players, to the manure teas.

Most live plant teas that we as humans drink need either time in the sun to make or steeping hot water to break out the flavor and elements you may wish, to feed your pumpkin.

Experimentation may be your only recourse. Certainly all green living plant material contains valued elements. Alfalfa contains a helthy amount, of growth stimulant plus the other trace elements including NPK. Alfalfa is considered equal, to kelp, by some students, of healthy patch additives.

I think your question is very interesting. I would stay away, from known posion containing plant life.

8/4/2006 10:59:18 AM

Montoursville, PA

For your information. One, of our area growers, picked up a case, of bananas, from a truck wreck site. He chopped them in small pieces. They are now fermenting into a dandy barrel, of banana tea. He added a cup, of molasses, to feed his bacteria which are now expanding as the fermentation increases. He will apply it as a drench towards the end, of the fermentation process. He has grown thousand pound pumpkins using teas and manures as his major additives.

8/7/2006 8:03:21 AM

The Netherlands

thats is intresting information
i will strart also with making teas for my pumpkins
i will chop the alfalfa in smal pieces and use warm water.

thanks a lot!

8/7/2006 8:18:47 AM

Montoursville, PA

The persons whose advise I follow describe a fermented manure tea as dark with lots, of murky appearance, still smelling exactly as you would surmise...like the poop you used to make it. They and I dilute that turbid dark tea about five, to seven, to one with water when applying it.

While fermenting it from raw poop, to largely fermented tea, they stir the mix daily to work in some oxygen. This tea would remain anaerobic. Diluted it looks like tea about the light color you might drink made from tea leaves. My term largely fermented means the fermentation has slowed down, to slow, working conditions. Said another way it appears, to be about finished working.

Using a plant leaf as your mass somewhat fermented should be colored somewhere between tan and green. It will contain all elements of the plant life.

8/7/2006 10:33:08 AM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

Just a thought...If you wanted to use alfalfa from the field. A weedwacker and a garbage can would sure increase the surface rate exposed to warm water 110 degrees would be about perfect. Along with a 1/4 cup of molasses for every two gallons. The fresh alfalfa will also break down rapidily in a compost pile.

8/7/2006 1:18:08 PM

The Netherlands

should i put the alfalfa or compost in a filterbag or just right into the barrel?
i am thinking about aeration but i am not sure if that is necesary for a good tea
any ideas?

8/7/2006 2:05:21 PM

Montoursville, PA

I would use a synthetic feed bag and dunk it up and down just like you make your own breakfast tea. Loose in the barrel is actually better but....if you want to run it through a hose and pump the left over litter will clog the pump. I use a sump pump and hose with thum over end to deliver the tea and run the sprinkler for an hour to wash it off the leaves and leaf stems. That takes care of the need to dilute. I talk diluteing to avoid the possibility that some one misunderstands and missed the fact that I flush and rinze it off immediately after using the straight tea as it is made in the barrel. If you wanted to be super safe dilute it in a second barrel and then apply it. It is not good judgement to apply straight full strength tea without immediate flushing with water. Straight tea without chemical additives will not hurt the soil when it is drenched on. My method would best be called a rinzed off foliar-drench. The leaves put it right to the roots exactly where it is needed. Some splash off will innoculate the space between the vines just fine.

Therefore if you coordinate your application with a following overhead watering you bring two good things together into harmony.

8/8/2006 6:46:22 AM

Mill Bay, British Columbia

I've incorporated a bunch of alfalfa meal into my soil and and now making alfalfa tea out of it in a very simple fashion. Using only panty hose, I just fill up a leg with the meal and let it steep for several days along with a good helping of worm castings in another leg.

Seems to work great. Anyone else using alfalfa tea?? I know that rose growers use it alot and mix it with epsom salts....I have not added any epsom but would be interested in knowing what it might do with the tea.

After making my tea, I'm adding it to my EZ-Flo fertilizer injector and using it to overhead water as well as in the soaker hoses that I have along/in the soil.

8/13/2006 3:38:16 PM

Montoursville, PA

That sounds like a good tea. Not sure I would mess with the salts. I add a cup or two of anything I have when I am anaerobic making teas. That includes my low number organic ferts and my own rich soil from under the compost pile.

8/13/2006 8:10:32 PM