There is an advantage to fertilizing with liquid fertilizer in that you get more or less instant results. Organics have to break down (rot) to do the plant any good which means you have to water them in and wait for the natural breakdown process to occur. Also the stuff has to work down into the soil which also takes time. I keep an organic brew working and water with it for the best results.

Yes, you can spread cubes around the base of a bush--out to the drip line. I don't know any exact measurement of how much--I tend to use half cup to 3/4s cup for average-size roses or full cup for large roses--less for small roses.

As for the break-down of the pellets, it definitely helps if you put your hose on stiff, hard spray and water in the pellets. The stiff spray will start breaking down the pellets, turning them into semi-mush, and it only takes an extra minute or so at each plant to do that. I strongly recommend the stiff spray.

Then I cover the area with mulch--to discourage critters from investigating the interesting new smell around your roses.

It may take a week or two longer for the mushed up pellets to do their thing, but in the grand scheme of things, that isn't a big deal.

Kate

I used alfalfa tea for many years and I found that it takes at least two weeks in the water barrel for the pellets just to break down and the stuff to begin to smell like horse you-know-what. It's going to take much longer for pellets to break down in the soil. I don't use it now because it takes so long and instead I have been using tea made with rotted manure which is truly foul but seems to work extremely well in the horrible soil I have to work with.

I have a tortoise that uses alfalfa pellets in her bedding. Every few months I dump out the bedding in the garden and replace it. The pellets go away after a few months.

Folks, I'm serious. Stiff spray of water several times around on the scattered pellets, and the pellets will be halfway to 3/4s dissolved--sometimes almost completely dissolved. You do not have to wait around for weeks or longer for the pellets to dissolve if you turn the stiff spray from your hose on them at the time you scatter them around.

I'm serious--it really works.

: )

Kate

Alfalfa meal. No pellets, no cubes, no tea. 1 cup/plant, 2 - 3 times a season, keep moving.

Just an observation but...anything alfalfa can do, manure will probably do better.

Alfalfa has a component, triaconatol, which is a growth hormone. While both manure and alfalfa are soil conditioners (and I use both), the triaconatol is the thing that stimulates the growth.

The benefits of triacontanol are indisputable however its' applicability from alfalfa are uncertain. The studies that have shown triacontanol to be effective have used the powdered form dissolved in alcohol (triacontanol is an alcohol) with miraculous results however triacontanol is insoluable in water which raises the question of how the substance can be absorbed from alfalfa. I have always thought that the fermentation of alfalfa in tea maybe is what does it or similarly the rotting of the alfalfa. All that is known is that triacontanol works and alfalfa has it but actual results using alfalfa as a growth stimulant are inconclusive. The problem is how to release the triacontanol. This is basically what we have been talking about.

OK, would the process of applying the alfalfa to the soil, and allowing the decomposition to release the triacontanol make it available in the soil and to the plant?

Diane, I would think yes but the process would seem to me to have to take a very long time. In dry conditions like here in SoCal it might never occur at all. Certainly speeding it up in a water barrel to the point where the stuff is completely decomposed and really stinks would seem to be best if in fact that does help cause the triacontanol to be released. The evidence from everyone who has done this including me would suggest this. However, I cannot say for certain that good results have been due to alfalfa because there are so many other factors and right now I am getting good results with manure tea which is easier, faster and far cheaper than alfalfa.

Thanks Henry, much appreciated.

Diane, I think that the fact that the soil was built up over many years in my garden in Connecticut was the most important factor. It is really all about organics. As for triacontanol, it is a miracle substance apparently and it is available although very expensive. It has to be mixed with something that it will dissolve in and then with water and used as a foliar spray. I've never tried it and would be curious if anyone here ever has.

I'm in SoCal and would not dream of fooling around with alfalfa tea. Too much work, too heavy to water all the roses. I scatter pellets and they break down eventually. The alfalfa meal purchased in nurseries probably enters the soil faster, but it also blows around a lot when being applied.

I guess either way works.