Ok so I'm doing my own soil mix this season. I want to use Alfafa as a substitue for blood meal. However, I've read that although Alfafa can be a good soil amendment but that it breaks down quickly and causes thermal heat that can damage roots. If I use it sparringly, what ratio should I use in my mix? I'm using peat moss, composted manure, mushroom compost, potting soil and Epsoma Organics.
elbow, I have not heard of alfalfa causing heat issues in all the recipes that have been posted on here by th guys that know their shit. We all use it in our mixes and have found that it is best to mix in your amendments, with your compost/ewc, then the soil mix itself, letting it sit 4-5 weeks before you put your plants in it. Check out the recipes that Chunk, LD, Skunk and all those guys have posted on here. I don't remember heat being an issue with alfalfa anywhere but the heat created in compost piles by natural breakdown of materials. jak
Yes, alfalfa can heat the soil up enough to burn roots. The triacontanol in the alfalfa causes this. Where I saw it was on rose growing forums and it was either fresh meal put in a hole before planting or a too heavy top dress. I use alfalfa as an amendment to my mix, 1-2cups/CuFt. I also ferment the alfalfa bokashi style and let the mix cook for a month or so. I haven't noticed any excess heat or root burning. IDK if this is because of the ferment or letting the mix cook. After reading the cautionary tales of fresh alfalfa meal over application, I've never used fresh meal right out of the bag on plants. Wet
I've got about 400lbs of soil and amendments. How much alfafa per 40lb bag of soil? Also, how do I ferment the alfafa?
about a cup per cubic foot of soil base, just mix it in like jak said, and all the other stuff you plan to add, use lots of earth worm castings for the bacterial content and let the stuff sit for 5 weeks. The micro herd will break it down.