alfalfa for fertilizer...first timer/how to

[cimarron]

how do, BYC gardeners,

we need to fertilize some newly planted bamboo and probably the other yard & houseplants too. our friend who gave us the bamboo (he's a gardener/landscaper) recommended alfalfa meal. i got some alfalfa pellets at the feedstore instead of meal to save a few bucks. now our friend's laid up for a few days from surgery so i wanted to check in with BYC gardeners for some how-tos before we do it.

i soaked the pellets overnight in water and lo and behold they are now a big pile of fluffy crumbly alfalfa-stuff. i have read up some about using alfalfa, and some recommend just putting meal directly on the soil over the plant, then water it. do you think it's ok to use in this form? the ingredients for alfalfa pellets is just "alfalfa meal". also we are expecting good rain the next few days.

we'll be fertilizing plant by plant.

also, can i give some of the soaked alfalfa to the chickens? it has soaked since about 11 last night so probably isn't fermenting yet.

i appreciate any help or experiences.

 

[NanaKat]

I use alfalfa meal on my bamboo also.
I mix it with a little compost and shredded leaves as a mulch. This allows the "food" to leach a little more slowly into the soil around my plants. Also as your bamboo sheds it's leaves...leave these to mulch and breack down.

As for feeding some to the chicken...mix some scratch with it and they will love it.