Help with Alfalfa Tea Please

Hello Everyone-

I am brewing my first batch of tea and am having some problems-at least I think I am. I started the tea on Saturday afternoon and it does not appear to be fermenting at all. I have one 32 gallon tote with a cover on it (loose) and 2 2/12 gallon containers with no covers. It has been cool, like not quite 50 degrees here most of the week with the weather much colder at night. It has also been raining constantly.

Question: Should I be concerned that my tea is not brewing yet? Should I cover the other containers? Help! I want to do the right thing by my 20 roses but am getting nervous! I posted this on Roses but thought maybe someone here could help?

Any insight?

Kimberly

Alfalfa on its own is pretty "volatile"-- heats up quickly if the mound is moist and warm.

Tea is a different matter. You're going to need some bacterial starter material. Essentially you're breeding the beneficial micro-organisms that abound in healthy compost. I'd make a fresh start with de-chlorinated water and a handful of alfalfa. Add a handful of finished (well-rotted) compost (ideally from organically grown plant material or non-medicated livestock), and a tablespoon of organic, unsulphered molasses. If you like you can add some kelp and some worm castings. Keep the mix bubbling at room temperature for between one and three days. You should see bubbles form, and the mix should have a nice sweet smell. Then strain and spray. Use within 8 hours.

Your 50 degree temperature is on the cool side. You'll see results with "tepid" water-- like for a baby bottle.

Hope this helps. There are plenty of good web sites on making compost tea. Here's my favorite: https://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/airwaste/wm/RECYCLE/Tea/tea1.htm

I'm trying to do the same thing Kimberly, and having some trouble getting the frothy stuff on top. I wasn't aware that you should add compost to alfalfa tea. I thought the point was to just get the benefits of alfalfa rather than the microbes?

I read on another post that you can 'dechlorinate' the water by putting in an air pump for a half hour before adding the alfalfa---this is instead of adding any type of chemicals to the water. Has anyone tried this?

Are there any benefits to aerating alfalfa tea as their is with compost tea?

To answer your question about the chlorine. You can let your water sit for 24 hours and all of the chlorine will disipate. The airating will likely speed that up some, but I would leave it churning for more than half an hour.

I sometimes add alfalfa to my compost tea, but what you're discussing seems like a simple alfalfa emulsion. If you simply want the nutritional benefits of alfalfa in a liquid form, it shouldn't matter if the mixture becomes biologically active or not. If, on the other hand, you want to brew up beneficial micro-organisms with the added benefits of the alfalfa as "feedstock", then you're going to need compost.

Alfalfa tea must be a rosarian thing. A good google search would probably unearth all the answers.