I put alfalfa pellets in a potted clematis and it is turning yellowish. Why is that? Too many?

I added a tablespoon of MagSO4 to 2 gal of water and gave the pale clematis a tonic drink and it is greening up I think.

Sheila, Do the pellets have salt in them? Some feed pellets do.

As alfalfa starts to break down (and with pellets that is almost immediately once in contact with moisture), it gets hot. As an organic, alfalfa is rather unique in that aspect and there is a risk of root burn, which is why they caution you not to have it in direct contact with plant roots but to mix thoroughly with the soil. Similar to but not the same as fertilizer burn, the heat from the decomposition is actually 'cooking' the roots and this can affect coloring as well as other aspects of growth. Salt or other additives to the pellets can also have an impact.

If not too severe, the plant will outgrow the effects but this is why I prefer alfalfa tea over an application of the dry meal or any pellets.

I can also tell you a true story about some former clients who had a fire started on their covered wooden front porch from an opened bag of alfalfa meal that happened to get wet and then hot enough to ignite. Darn near burned their entire house down!!

It has not been very warm yet, so thankfully no fires. I plant is greening up nicely now. I'm not sure if the MgSO4 helped or what.

Above is before MgSO4. You can see the alfalfa .

Now after MgSO4 it is greening up. A bit of the pale tips persist. I looked at my alfalfa pellets and they are made from ground alfalfa and they are for animal feed. No salt in ingredients. The photos are about a week apart and I added the Mg SO4 tonic to one pale potted rose "Betty" and that greened up too. All the other clematis and roses were dark green. These two plants just needed a little lift.