Re: HYB: CULT: pushing seedlings
- Subject: Re: [iris-talk] HYB: CULT: pushing seedlings
- From: J* J*
- Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 22:15:50 -0700
wmoores wrote:
> Linda, as you may remember over the last several years on iris-l
> and iris-talk,
> I have been skeptical about the benefits of alfalfa in my soil.
>
> Last year I tried an experiment with potting rhizomes. I filled
> the pot half full with alfalfa bits. Then, I placed a soil mix on
> top of that and pushed a rootless rhizome into the soil mix.
>
> The rhizomes did not send out new leaves like they did in the pots
> without the alfalfa base. They remained stunted for the two or three
> months they were in the pots.
>
> When I got ready to unpot the rises with the alfalfa base, I
> found that there wasn't very much of a root system. The roots went
> to the pure alfalfa base but would not grow into it. I also found
> out that the alfalfa had soured and some pots had maggots working the
> sour alfalfa.
>
I don't think I had ever heard of anyone laying down a solid layer of
alfalfa. I have always mixed it in with the dirt. I think it was Terry
Aitkin that ran an experiment in his garden with great success. I also
think there have been some published papers on the benefits of alfalfa.
John | "There be dragons here"
| Annotation used by ancient cartographers
| to indicate the edge of the known world.
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