Alfalfa – a Powerful Plant Growth Stimulant.
Alfalfa contains Triacontanol a naturally occurring stimulant will significantly boost the growth of your plants. Alfalfa is mostly a nitrogen source....but the worms love it and it brings them in to keep the soil churned and fertilized.
Alfalfa meal can usually be purchased at agricultural feed stores. Be careful when applying dry alfalfa meal, it's very light and dusty, and although its dust is nontoxic, it can create respiratory problems if inhaled.
Greensand
Greensand provides a lot of trace nutrients and potash and lasts about 3 years. Don't overdo it.... too much produces massive root balls with tons of hair roots. It's really good for your seedling beds because it gets your seedlings well rooted real fast. I like that it's a slow release fertilizer. The trace minerals also give richness to your flower and foliage colors.
Every time I plant I mix some alfalfa meal (about a half cup) and some greensand (about a quarter cup), into each planting hole.
If you have trouble finding greensand and alfalfa meal you can use Espoma products call "PlantTone" and "FlowerTone" which are organics that have both alfalfa and greensand in them as well as some bone meal and other things. All organics are safe to use in the fall as they are "low power" fertilizers and won't burn your plants or get them growing again when they should be going down for the winter soon.
Alfalfa will keep your soil warm longer... in Michigan it generates some soil heat on late plantings.
