Peggy, we have used alfalfa at various times, throughout spring and summer.

We always use it in the form of alfalfa tea, because there are various "critters"
around here, which I neither want to feed, nor even ATTRACT.

In the form of alfalfa tea (which we like to make with alfalfa meal,
when we can find it) it is a bit more work. But it leaves nothing sitting
around that would attract squirrels/rats/raccoons/etc., and that is
important to me.

Jeri

You could wait til March, but since the alfalfa has to be decomposed first before the roses get any benefit from it, you might want to apply it now, unless you plan on fermenting it into tea.

I buy pellets to make tea with. If you're going to apply it directly then you want meal. Scratch it in like any other fertilizer. Alfalfa is grown as an animal feed so you're going to attract everything that lives in the area - rabbits, voles, coons, rats, deer, squirrels, everything. I even had a dog that would eat the pellets, and she'd eat the dirt where I scratched in organic fertilizers like alfalfa or blood meal (her favorite).

I don't know any exact measurements to use per bush but it's pretty high in nitrogen, so don't get carried away with it.

I use pellets --because that is all I can find around here. If it attracts critters, I haven't particularly noticed it. Maybe it has to do with how I apply it. I spread a couple large cups of it underneath the rose (out to the drip-line). Then I put my hose attachment on to strong spray, and I water the pellets thoroughly. The stiff spray starts to break down the pellets very quickly. After a few minutes of spraying, the pellets are three-quarters dissolved--even more sometimes. I then spread mulch over that area--and wait for the "hormones" to kick in and produce those big healthy canes.

I think I remember another poster saying he puts the pellets in a pail, pours water over them, lets them set for a couple hours, and then pours the "mush" around the roses.

I really think the pellets are easiest to handle. The meal can blow around (including in your face), and the tea is just too much work, in my opinion. But the end result will be the same. The only real difference is that the tea starts to work sooner, whereas the pellets take longer to begin--unless you partially break them down like I do.

Good luck. Your roses are going to be very happy.

Kate

Good advice! I don't want to bother with the tea either. I work fulltime & have over 60 roses - lol. This fall I had 4 yards of a mix of compost & potting soil delivered & used it ALL in my flowerbeds. I am collecting bags of composted chicken manure (that stuff is GREAT) to apply in the spring. And I use RoseTone. I figure they should be pretty happy, but I want to try a little alfalfa too.

We made tea for the first time this year using pellets, it was easy. We have about 80 roses now and there is no way scratching in pellets for every rose is easier than just brewing the stuff and then pouring it in. At least from my perspective. Making the tea takes five minutes. Applying it using a 2 gallon plastic watering can takes about 15 minutes for us. Simple and effective.

Kate

I'm with Kate.
Really.
A few minutes to set the stuff to steeping.

A couple hours later to apply it to all of the roses here (somewhere under 300 now, I think) up and down the hill.

No rats, squirrels, etc. attracted.
No dogs eating the stuff.

Jeri

For health reasons I can't carry around pails of tea to pour around my 80+ roses so I use the alfalfa meal. I put the 40 pound sack in an empty garbage can which cannot be climbed into by "critters. I scoop the meal into a small bucket and spread the meal around the roses with a plastic measuring cup and water it in immediately. I don't even scratch it into the soil. I've never had any problem with any creature being attracted by this. Different methods work for different people and it's just a matter of finding out what's right for you.

Ingrid

I have heard the nutrients in the alfalfa pellets dont start to work until soil is warm. Would it be OK to put them around the roses, then put my mulch on top and they would be broken down by spring and ready to go to work, or would it be better to wait until spring? I live in east Texas. Thanks.....
Judith

I have made the tea for a few years but have a question now after reading the responses. I'm wondering why the tea recipe calls for you to wait for about a week and to stir the sludge up several times, etc when so many of you noted rosarians only wait for it to decompose in a bucket of water in just a few hours and that works just as well apparently. Is there some other chemical process that happens if you stir and then wait out the week? I'm surprised no one here has mentioned the wonderful aroma of the tea after it gets wet. :)

Rosalita raises a good point. Peggy if you decide after all to do tea you have read the caveats about storing and distributing it right? I made the major boo boo of letting a batch sit in the middle of summer for a really long time and when we went to get rid of it I thought we might need Hazmat suits! Just something to think about. I still haven't concluded which was worse when the time came for disposal, the smell or my husband whining about the smell. Both were memorable:)

Kate

I use alfalfa in the spring. I empty a 50 lb bag into my wheelbarrow, mix into this 10 lbs of bone meal and 5 lbs of blood meal. I then give each rose about a 3 lb coffee can scoop (an animal feed scoop). I've not had animals attracted to this mixture. I also make the alfalfa tea in the summer to help out the constant bloomers.

Robert

I made the major boo boo of letting a batch sit in the middle of summer for a really long time and when we went to get rid of it I thought we might need Hazmat suits!

*** Actually, we did that once, too.
We went ahead and diluted and used it as usual.
The smell disappeared quickly, and the roses loved it.

Jeri

Jeri, ours had mold on top. I was afraid of it. I just didn't make the unholy ruckus about the situation the way my DH did. Someone had to face it bravely after all:)

Kate

The Triacontanol is the substance you are after. According to Mike Rivers it comes from the leaves and fermentation isn't necessary-just contact with water and it only takes a tiny amount of it. I use Pellets on my beds and tea on the potted roses because the pellets or meal can matt and be really hard to break up unless it is mixed in..not easy in the pot ghetto. I mix meal with the pottng soil when I repot. It smells bad no matter what. I think it must go away sooner where it is warmer which is not here. It works though no matter which method you use.

patricia

It was stated above that alfalfa meal/pellets had a high nitrogen content. On checking I found the highest mentioned was 3 percent which is relatively low.
The Colorado State University Master Gardener site states
"Alfalfa meal or pellets; Typical NPK analysis: 2-1-2: Release time: 1-4 months: Pros: Available at feed stores: Cons: May contain seeds: Application: Till in 2-5 pounds per 100 square feet." Their estimate of the nitrogen is only 2 percent. It also shows the time required to release it, 1-4 months means it breaks down and releases the nitrogen slowly so you'll not get the 2 to 3 percent nitrogen all at once. Too much is almost impossible unless you plant directly into it.