[tjg911]

i googled this and read a bit about alfalfa tea (AT). it seems AT is used for roses and other flowers but i did not read that it's used for vegetables as much as flowers (OPINIONS?). i bought a 50 pound bag of alfalfa pellets today at blue seal feed. i'm not sure if i want to make tea from it vs using neptune's harvest fish emulsion (NH) for fertilizing to address a specific problem described below.

i have not done a soil test so i am ASSUMING i have a nitrogen problem based upon experience. my garden is organic and 1200 sq feet. last fall (early november) i asked for 4 yards of horse manure but he brought 5 yards! frankly 4 was probably a bit much 5 is too much, it was about 6" thick on the garden before tilling! it appeared to be at least 50% saw dust, maybe as high as 75%. it was hot and steaming so i figured there was a lot of urine which is high in nitrogen (N) in it. you could see horse droppings (N) but i was concerned that at least 1/2 was saw dust (carbon). i tilled it in. the garlic bed did not get any of this as i was concerned it may be too hot for the cloves i'd be planting in a few days.

fast forward to today and my garlic looks great but all the other plants don't. i suspect the nitrogen in the soil is being used to break down the saw dust (carbon). my onions were planted out 4/12 and they have doubled to 4-6" and are a tiny bit yellowish and seem to be small. my cabbages are now light green, i think they were a little darker a week or so ago. peas plants were planted out 4/12 have grown from 3" transplants to 6-7" and definitely are yellowish seems they should be taller. beets and radishes look ok colorwise, the beets are still small and the radishes just a bit pale (not dark green) both seeded 4/12. my red lettuce looks ok the green lettuce is yellowish (but this variety is not a dark green but is usually a little on the pale side but it is paler than normal) and not growing well. parsley is not growing well. the past week it has been cold some nights down to 30's with frosts but equally sunny/overcast, maybe the temperatures are holding back growth but all these crops do well in cool weather, prior to a week ago it was warm so it has not been cold for the past 4 weeks these plants were put out or seeded.

last night i added 2 pounds of blood meal to the onion bed (50 sq ft) and watered it in, the directions were for a heavy N feed use 4 pounds for 100 sq ft. also last night we had 1" of rain. unfortunately about 20 minutes after doing this i read at the allium forum that bloodmeal takes a few weeks to break down. bulbing for the onions starts in about 5 weeks (around 6/20) and you need large plants by the time bulbing starts. i need to get the onions to grow now not 3 weeks from now!

i normally don't fertilize too much - once every 2 weeks i foliar spray with neptune's harvest (NH) except for alliums they get it 1 time per month.

in the allium forum alfalfa tea was suggested for a N boost. again no soil test and i read too much N can effect growth tho i thought it only caused excessive green growth but i got the impression that it can stunt plants due to salts in manure/urine but remember that manure was added in november. add to that the bloodmeal so i am hesitant to use the alfalfa pellets to make AT as i may be putting too much N into the onion bed. i am thinking that perhaps fertilizing with NH every week by watering them with NH vs foliar spraying will add the N-P-K that will help the plants grow (OPINIONS?) vs chancing over doing the N with the tea that takes several days to make and i may need gallons to water all these various plants. i have a 30 gallon trash can i could use to brew the AT but.... so fertilizing with NH is easy, making AT takes time and i have zero experience with using AT (OPINIONS ABOUT AT?).

i wonder what others think about the saw dust/carbon vs the N in the soil locking up the N causing these plants to be small and a bit yellowish. if AT is highly touted i'll consider it but right now i am leaning towards returning it and using the $15 to get another gallon of NH which costs about $40. NH fish fertilizer is 2-4-1 which is what i have and am using now the fish and seaweed emulsion i usually use which is 2-3-1.

i fear i may lose the garden. i grow 75 pounds of onions, i have not bought onions for years. i eat out of the garden all summer buying little in the stores and keep many crops over winter. if the garden is a failure i will lose organic produce i get for free vs having to buy non organic at the grocery stores at a huge cost. i have broccoli and chard about to go out. tomatoes in 3 weeks. cukes, pole beans (i make pickles from both those), peppers (freeze), yellow squash (i freeze) butternut squash i keep all winter (dozens of them) all due to be growing in june. i eat lots of parsley. successive planting of lettuce and cabbage all season. the only think i feel confident about is a good garlic harvest. if the garden is failing i considered plowing it all under in july and planting different plants to be tilled under to enrich the soil (green manures).

what do you think?