Replacing Blood meal with Alfalfa meal for the main source of nitrogen

[Nannymouse]

So...how about just adding alfalfa hay or fresh cut alfalfa to the composters?

 

[CrushnYuba]

To compost or soil,? Allot of people mulch with it. It's a little cheaper bailed then pelletized. Breaks down slow on top and can double as much. I have tilled it. I know alot of people that grow legume cover crops. Won't add much n but great for cycling n. Great for microbial life. I think you get more from using a little alfalfa then using compost teas or any of the other shit people do.

Also contains hormones but i believe the universities decided that natural tria can't be absorbed by roots. Just one of them myths that could never be proven works like vitamin b.

 

[nono_fr]

Alfalfa is a green manure . .Here some explanations on green manure : https://greenupside.com/what-are-the-benefits-of-green-manure/

So, what are the benefits of green manure? Green manure adds organic material and nutrients to your soil as it grows and breaks down. Green manure also prevents weeds from growing, and attracts pollinators (such as bees) to your garden. Green manure can even be used as feed for animals.

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Examples Of Green Manure Plants (Cover Crops)​

You have many choices when it comes to which cover crops you use as green manure in your garden. Some of the best choices are legumes, since the bacteria in their roots also help to fix nitrogen from the air into the soil.

Here is a list of some cover crops you can use as green manure.

• Alfalfa – a legume also known as lucerne, alfalfa has a deep root system. This makes alfalfa resistant to drought, and allows it to absorb nutrients from deep in the ground.
• Beans – a legume that grows above ground on vines, beans prefer warm weather to grow. They are a good source of protein for humans and animals. You can grow pole beans (tall and narrow) or bush beans (short and wide).
• Clover – a legume with distinctive 3-section leaves, clover is often used as feed for livestock in addition to being used as a green manure.
• Peas – an annual legume (they live only one year), peas grow best in cool weather. They are a good source of protein, making them a good choice for animal feed if you don’t need the whole crop for your garden soil.
• Vetch – another member of the legume family, vetch is a close relative of peas and lentils. Once eaten widely by humans, it is often used as a cover crop or as animal feed.

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Green Manure Adds Nutrients To Soil In Your Garden​

Some of the crops used for green manure, such as peas, beans, and alfalfa, are known as legumes. A legume has roots that contain nitrogen-fixing bacteria (known as Rhizobia).
These bacteria take nitrogen from the air, convert it into a form that is usable by plants, and put it into the soil. For more information, [check out this article on legumes from Wikipedia.]

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legume#Nitrogen_fixation

Nitrogen fixation​

Many legumes contain symbiotic bacteria called Rhizobia within root nodules of their root systems (plants belonging to the genus Styphnolobium are one exception to this rule). These bacteria have the special ability of fixing nitrogen from atmospheric, molecular nitrogen (N2) into ammonia (NH3).[22] The chemical reaction is:

N2 + 8H+ + 8e− → 2NH3 + H2

Ammonia is then converted to another form, ammonium (NH+4), usable by (some) plants by the following reaction:

NH3 + H+ → NH+4

This arrangement means that the root nodules are sources of nitrogen for legumes, making them relatively rich in plant proteins. All proteins contain nitrogenous amino acids. Nitrogen is therefore a necessary ingredient in the production of proteins. Hence, legumes are among the best sources of plant protein.

When a legume plant dies in the field, for example following the harvest, all of its remaining nitrogen, incorporated into amino acids inside the remaining plant parts, is released back into the soil. In the soil, the amino acids are converted to nitrate (NO−3), making the nitrogen available to other plants, thereby serving as fertilizer for future crops.[23][24]

In many traditional and organic farming practices, crop rotation involving legumes is common. By alternating between legumes and non-legumes, sometimes planting non-legumes two times in a row and then a legume, the field usually receives a sufficient amount of nitrogenous compounds to produce a good result, even when the crop is non-leguminous. Legumes are sometimes referred to as "green manure".

Sri Lanka developed the farming practice known as coconut-soybean intercropping. Grain legumes are grown in coconut (Cocos nuficera) groves in two ways: intercropping or as a cash crop. These are grown mainly for their protein, vegetable oil and ability to uphold soil fertility.[25] However, continuous cropping after 3–4 years decrease grain yields significantly.

 

[St. Phatty]

Glad to hear that people are using Alfalfa successfully.

Last person that I knew that used Alfalfa as a Nitrogen rich ground cover ... ended up committing suicide.

At a community garden in Sonoma County.

 

[CrushnYuba]

O my God.. what a public place to do yourself in. Are u talking about the thing at that happned at the butterfly garden last year?
Its NorCal. There are so many people using alfalfa outdoors. I'm sure you know a few that lived. Not to be insensitive.

 

[Chunkypigs]

I try to mix up my N sources but use what's in the shed this year I put down 70 ppms on my beds from equal parts alfalfa, fish meal, neem, shrimp meal, chicken pellets and feather meal. one bed got just chicken and alfalfa. trying to use sources that are available fast and others the release slower.

Going to put down a top dress of 50 ppms more N as they transition to flower soon along with some more Ca , K, and P.

if I keep my applications low and smoke plenty of OGK, I'm not even sad.

 

[St. Phatty]

I try to mix up my N sources but use what's in the shed this year I put down 70 ppms on my beds from equal parts alfalfa, fish meal, neem, shrimp meal, chicken pellets and feather meal.

if I keep my applications low and smoke plenty of OGK, I'm not even sad.

I guess with all that Green, the deer have their choice.

But I find that animals have a strong preference for Cannabis.

 

[Wish]

I try to mix up my N sources but use what's in the shed this year I put down 70 ppms on my beds from equal parts alfalfa, fish meal, neem, shrimp meal, chicken pellets and feather meal. one bed got just chicken and alfalfa. trying to use sources that are available fast and others the release slower.

Going to put down a top dress of 50 ppms more N as they transition to flower soon along with some more Ca , K, and P.

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if I keep my applications low and smoke plenty of OGK, I'm not even sad.

Is that the ogkb?

 

[Chunkypigs]

Is that the ogkb?

there's one in that bed.

 

[Chunkypigs]

look how that Alfalfa Nitrogen ruined my flowers, suicide or trim jail???

 

[chilliwilli]

look how that Alfalfa Nitrogen ruined my flowers, suicide or trim jail???

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Controlled burn?

 

[Chunkypigs]

Controlled burn?

24/7 Bro

 

[Bio boy]

I’ve been buying alfalfa bales to mulch with worms love it and soil too
someone here said get the horse pellets soaked in mollasses instead and the fungal will incoulate it fast and then worms devour it so gona try that as it’s not as hot when just mulch

 

[St. Phatty]

Urine makes a GREAT nitrogen source.

The trick is persuading female members of the household to alter their bathroom habits.

Also fresh urine can morph over time, becomes black.

The nitrogen content seems to increase. Which means, using less.

 

[Bio boy]

Urine makes a GREAT nitrogen source.

The trick is persuading female members of the household to alter their bathroom habits.

Also fresh urine can morph over time, becomes black.

The nitrogen content seems to increase. Which means, using less.

Also menstral cycle urine contains high amounts of Serotonin hence the mood swings
but also as hormone rich contains iaa and iba in high amounts and was the first place it was isolated from for cloning
yes your can root in it ….period
haha pun intended

 

[Ipotato]

I use steamed horse pellets very cheap no salt added

 

[St. Phatty]

I use 1/2 cup of blood meal in 1 cubic foot of soil for it's nitrogen content. I would like to use Alfalfa meal instead. Does anyone know how much Alfalfa meal I should use in a Cubic foot of soil? The numbers attributed to Blood meal range from 11 to 14 of N. Is that a percentage of the total nitrogen in Blood meal? Alfalfa is generally rated as a 3 for it's N content. So roughly does that mean I need to use 2 cups of Alfalfa to get what comes from 1/2 cup of Blood meal?

Doesn't Alfalfa normally come in a Bale - like Hay ?

Grinding it up - not appealing.

I saw one gardener spread it on the ground, and the plants loved it. It created habitat, the alfalfa slowly rotted, the critters ate it, the Nitrogen was slowly distributed to the plants.

I would use composted steer manure as the "Mixer" for Cannabis soil.

Full of Nitrogen.

Also, chicken manure. Lots of NPK.

Also, human urine. LOTS of Nitrogen. Plus it's helpful to water down the soil mix, because it can get really dusty. If it's mixed wet = less dust.

The HIDDEN BENEFIT - if you walk around smelling like Human Urine, other people will know that you are a Serious Gardener !

 

[Three Berries]

White clover is living manure.

 

[St. Phatty]

I don't think any plants use nitrogin from the air. I could be wrong. Pot definitely doesn't. There's different forms of nitrogin. I'm the gas state it's not usable. The ecosystem works on nitrogin cycling. Plants legumes like alfalfa can grow in soil with no nitrogin but they themselves don't utilize the n in the air. There's is bacteria that grows in the roots that does it. That's why farmers grow alfalfa as a cover crop.

Why are plants unable to get nitrogen from the air ?

It seems odd. They need nitrogen, they're surrounded by it, but they can only get it through the roots.

"Earth's atmosphere contains a huge pool of nitrogen gas (N2). But this nitrogen is “unavailable” to plants, because the gaseous form cannot be used directly by plants without undergoing a transformation. To be used by plants, the N2 must be transformed through a process called nitrogen fixation."

Maybe what they really like is Nitrates.

 

[Three Berries]

Why are plants unable to get nitrogen from the air ?

It seems odd. They need nitrogen, they're surrounded by it, but they can only get it through the roots.

"Earth's atmosphere contains a huge pool of nitrogen gas (N2). But this nitrogen is “unavailable” to plants, because the gaseous form cannot be used directly by plants without undergoing a transformation. To be used by plants, the N2 must be transformed through a process called nitrogen fixation."

Maybe what they really like is Nitrates.

That's one thing Legumes do, fixate a N compound in little nodules on the roots.