Re: Cult - alfalfa as a cover crop
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: Re: Cult - alfalfa as a cover crop
- From: "* I* J* <j*@ix.netcom.com>
- Date: Fri, 21 Nov 1997 15:32:59 -0700 (MST)
thymetoo@direct.ca wrote:
>
> The problem with using alfalfa as a cover crop is that this perennial
> tends to send out and down huge tap roots. It is impossible to get rid
> of this stuff once it gets in somewhere that you don't want it staying.
> I have often remarked after trying to rid a garden spot of it that is is
> the stuff of which sci-fi horror movies can be made! I'd suggest
> sticking to alfalfa pellets for fertilizer, and using something just a
> little more co-operative as a cover crop.
I'd have to say that this is the first time in over thirty years of
gardening that I have ever heard this. Alfalfa is so often used as a
cover crop that one would think this problem would have been mentioned
somewhere. Are you sure there is not something else going on, like
self-seeding or something?
Admittedsly most references say to cut it back when it gets to 8", and
dig it in after 2 or so days. I believe it is considered a fast
germinating annual.
John | "There be dragons here"
| Annotation used by ancient cartographers
| to indicate the edge of the known world.
John Jones, jijones@ix.netcom.com
Fremont CA, USDA zone 8/9 (coastal, bay)
Max high 95F/35C, Min Low 28F/-2C average 10 days each
Heavy clay base for my raised beds.
