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Xenia,ohio

I had a man suggest to me to take rabbit food {pelleted alfalfa} and turn into the soil. He said put it around plant locations and it would be very good for the pumpkins. I have seen his garden in the past and he has done pretty well,growing a few pushing a 1000#. Does this sound logical to do and why?

3/20/2010 12:45:55 AM

Georgetown, Ontario

Alfalfa contains triacontanol which is known to:

- Increase root mass

- Increase nitrogen assimilation

- Encourage greener and broader leaves

· More robust, healthier plants are more tolerant to environmental stresses including heat stress, cold stress.

If you use alfalfa pellets make sure they do not contain salt, use pure alfalfa meal pellets or cubes.

I'm using for the first time this year and applied 500 pounds on 2400 sq ft last fall.

3/20/2010 11:05:03 AM

Buffalo, new York, USA

Use it every year in a 10 foot radius around the planting area. I can only assume that it adds nitrogen as I use it to keep my compost cooking thru the winter.

3/20/2010 11:06:22 AM

Macomb County

Triacontanol works great on roses and flowering plants. However, on pumpkins and vegetables I'm not sure it makes any, if that much of a difference. However, alfalfa is a good source of N and trace minerals, so I wouldn't count it out until more is known.

3/20/2010 1:13:15 PM

Minnesota

Growers use it for compost tea, so it must be good.

3/20/2010 1:36:50 PM

Adams County

yes yes yes yes yes ...........

3/20/2010 5:45:10 PM

Owensboro, Ky.

Pstein, where did you purchase this product...all alfalfa pellets I can find locally, are hig salt content type pellets!!! Peace, Wayne

3/20/2010 6:05:58 PM

Anamosa, IA BPIowegian@aol.com

What makes alfalfa so good is its deep root system. It pulls up lots of trace elements that have leached out of the topsoil. I have seen alfalfa roots over 12' deep in excavations.

3/20/2010 10:39:41 PM

Bloomington, IN

Since we're on the topic of alfalfa meal I was wondering if anyone knew how many pounds of nitrogen would be in, say, 10 lbs of alfalfa meal?

3/21/2010 1:35:46 AM

Georgetown, Ontario

Pumpkin Cholo I've seen a commercial alfalfa meal for sale and the numbers on the bag were 2.5-1-1 (N-P-K) so 100 pounds of meal or pellets would contain 2.5 pounds of N

3/21/2010 8:36:58 AM

Western PA

Check out: http://www.alfagreensupreme.com/pages/fertilizer2.htm

A agway store had this brand and it looks like top notch stuff, I called the mfg. just to confirm no salt was added.

it's a little pricey for alfalfa at about $12 a bag 50lb when you can get the cheaper offbrand feed stuff for about 6-12 a bag.

I have read a lot about alfalfa this past winter and it looks like a must, a few of the top growers last year used it: Doc, & Stelts.

I plan on using it has a soil amendment.

Nitrogen     2.00%
Phosphorus     1.0%
Potassium     2.00%
Calcium     1.30%
+ micros

3/21/2010 3:35:09 PM

Xenia,ohio

peace wayne I have not purchased the pellets yet. It was just suggested to me from a man i met. he said he has bought some at the local Tractor Supply Company. I have horses and in the past I have fed them alfalfa cubes, its pure alfalfa, shaped in one inch formed cubes . Reading everyones feedback I do think I will scatter some cubes around the plant site locations and turn them into the soil with a tiller.

3/21/2010 4:38:45 PM

Bloomington, IN

Thanks Pumpkin Shepherd!

3/21/2010 9:18:53 PM

Circleville Ohio USA

I found the meal easy to spread and the pellets make take longer to spread over the whole patch, either would be a good addition to the patch.

3/22/2010 9:54:20 AM