I think the tea has a more instant effect and the pellets more of a timed-release effect.

Sherry

It also matters whether or not you have any rabbits, squirrels or (sorry!) rats in the area.
All of those would be attracted by alfalfa pellets scattered on the ground (as for that matter would my dogs!)
For all of those reasons, we stick to tea.

Jeri

I also think it depends on the size and quantity of your rose garden, maybe the tea could be a tremendous amount of work if you have mega roses - and so pellets would just make more sense.
Pauline - Vancouver Island

I heard the organic fertilizers are okay to apply early but don't really do much until the soil warms up. I usually try to put alfalfa down a bit after pruning and let decay/work itself into the soil. A local TV gardener Cisco Morse also suggested a spring application of stronger fertilizer to help them out of dormancy.
I have put down "rat feeders" for the last couple years. 2 years ago during heavy rains one came into my garage and ate through the ignition wire in my Liberty. We had 2 have it towed and couldn't believe it when the mechanic pulled a nest of towels from our garage out of it's engine. $2000.00 approximately. I haven't seen any rat activity since.

I like to compare the soil to a sick person. Let's say they have a cough. Alfalfa tea would be the equivalent of giving the sick person cough syrup. Works fast and clears up the problem right away...

Alfalfa pellets would be the equivalent of putting cough drops in their ears...

I'm sure it will work eventually... but...

I'm a physically small person, hauling tea would be difficult for me (perhaps a garden cart would work, but the lot is hilly so moving the cart would require a lawn tractor) so I spread pellets. Each rose receives about two cups in spring and a cup in mid summer. I purchase horse pellets without added salt, haven't seen any interest among the squirrels. I must warn you that the pellets are unattractive -- when they begin to swell with moisture it looks like a dog barfed in my garden. I don't detect any odor from the pellets.

The pellets and meal are organic materials which help to condition the soil. The "tea" does not help soil structure. The dry alfalfa takes longer to release triacontanol (which is the growth stimulant), making the "tea" extracts the triacontanol and it is available in a more concentrated form.

I don't use pellets, I use meal. Looks not much different than my other organic fertilizers (because they contain alfalfa too). No order and (knock on wood) no vermin.

I prefer pellets. When I had less roses and more time, I made tea. Now, I haul the 50-lb bag out in the wheelbarrow, take aim and throw the dang things at the roses, 1-2 times a year. Nobody gives me grief about the smell anymore, either, an important consideration when you're a city-slicker.

Use a dibble or spading fork to make holes around the rose bush. Place the pellets in the holes and cover them.
As they get wet and swell they will loosen the soil. As stated above, All the benefits will be released but slowly and you'll get organics added to the soil as a plus.

I use the pellets. I put them on when I add mulch, around March here in Oregon. The rain quickly melts them, they swell, and when I'm weeding, I spread the remains around. Seems to work and the roses love it.
Kathy

Hey, Karl, I like your idea of using a spading fork and dropping the pellets down the holes. So much so that I will do it tomorrow while I'm fertilizing and spreading horse manure compost. What a brilliant idea! Thanks.

Sherry

Will the pellets ever ferment and release the chemicals you want them to release?
This depends on your rainfall and perhaps your being able to give the rose additional water...to keep the alfalfa wet until it ferments.

Several years ago we just scattered the pellets in spring. It was a dry summer and we irrigated the roses with a drip system.
Fall weeding (it doesn't take much water to start fall weeds even after a very dry summer) showed me that I had a lot of pellets just as tightly compressed as when we spred them several months earlier.
The warm fall rains let to the release of the growth producing compounds and I got growth that got killed by winter.

I use the meal but used pellets before I found the source for meal in town; it worked. I wouldn't even dream of making tea in my small garden because of its smell. Making tea in a subdivision may provoke my neighbors to kill me, or denounce to the HOA board that is equivalent of murder - at least financially, in the form of "violation penalty fee".