There are more and more people who are encouraged to have their own vegetable patch in the garden to plant vegetables, vegetables… If you are looking for how to plant alfalfa and want a guide to help you answer the questions main questions that can assail you, You have come to the right place.
Then we will give you the keys so that you can plant alfalfa easily and have a good harvest. Go for it?
When and where to plant alfalfa
Alfalfa is a leguminous plant found in all countries with a temperate climate, so you will have no problem planting it in regions with a temperate climate throughout the year.
Now, the best time to do this is in the fall because during this time (fall and winter) the plant germinates and grows to reach the spring growth spurt.
That’s not to say you can’t plant them in cooler climates. You can, only instead of sowing alfalfa in the fall, you have to wait until spring.
In fact, it is a plant that does not tolerate cold at all, but neither does extreme heat. For this reason, one must try to plant it and grow it quickly before the sweltering heat arrives.
If we now focus on where you should plant it, know that alfalfa needs direct sunlight, so always choose a place where it gets a minimum of 6-8 hours of sunlight. In addition, the temperature should be monitored, so that it is always between 18 and 28 degrees.
Does that mean if it’s lower it’s not okay? No, in fact, as long as the temperature does not drop below 2 ºC, you will not have a problem because it will germinate, just that it will do so more slowly than if it were more degrees Celsius. In fact, some varieties can tolerate down to -10°C and during this period of extreme cold they stop evolving until the temperatures start to rise.
Of course, from 35°C, the plant begins to suffer.
How to Plant Alfalfa
We are now going with the steps you need to control to plant alfalfa and have a very good harvest.
Our recommendation is that you pay attention to these keys we are talking about:
choose the seeds
As we have already told you, there are many varieties of alfalfa and therefore also seeds.
The best thing is that you pay attention to the time you have to choose one or the other, because that way you will have more success with the harvest. If you pick a very delicate one and can’t give it everything it needs, you’re putting the plant at risk and you might come away disappointed.
Prepare the terrain
Although alfalfa is a plant that adapts to anything you throw at it, the truth is that if you give it a very light substrate (in terms of heavy drainage) and deep soils, it will thank you, and a lot. .
This means you need to make sure it’s at least a meter deep. If you have less, it will be difficult to plant alfalfa and grow it well.
As for the soil, choose one with a pH of 7.2, which is the most suitable for this plant. In addition, care must be taken that it does not fall below 6.8 because then the harvest will not come out as rich as if you took it into account.
Obviously, you will need the substrate to be nutritious to meet its needs.
It’s time to sow alfalfa
Before putting the seeds, we advise you to moisten the soil slightly so that the water helps the seeds to germinate more easily.
Then put the seeds and cover them. In general, if the soil is heavy, it will be necessary to do it at 1.25 centimeters so that they germinate well; but if light, seed depth will be good at 3 centimeters or less.
Now you don’t have to put in an exact amount of seeds. This is done by throwing the seeds in the air so that they spread. Then you cover with soil and it will be ready.
Some experts recommend that in addition to adding nutritious soil, it doesn’t hurt to add a little fertilizer in the first watering you use. Of course, it must be a fertilizer low in manganese and aluminum, but high in phosphorus and potassium, as well as calcium.
water the earth
It’s not about flooding it, but you will need to water it because the seeds will take about a week to germinate.
In general, alfalfa is irrigated once a week.
Beware of pests and diseases
In addition to providing it with its daily hours of sunshine and irrigation, another care you will have to pay attention to is that pests and diseases do not attack it.
Alfalfa usually suffers from aphids, weevils (or weevils), flies (alfalfa), larvae, insects… In addition to diseases such as rot (due to excessive watering) and freckle of the alfalfa (also due to excess water).
When can alfalfa be harvested?
Now that you’ve seen all the steps you need to take to have more luck and a high probability of harvesting alfalfa, it’s time to think about when you can enjoy your harvest.
Well, if everything goes well and you give it all the care it needs, you will have the harvest ready 3 months after planting it. It means that:
- If you planted it in October or November, January or February, you should harvest it.
- If you planted it in February or March, you will have it in May or June.
As you can see, these are dates before the most intense heat of summer, and we advise against reaching these dates because it can weaken the plant and in the end you will not harvest anything (especially since the heat can burn it, especially since it has been exposed to a lot of daily sun).
To know if it is ready to be picked or not, you have to look at the leaves and stems. In the first case, the leaves should be green and leafy. For their part, the stems will be thin and very flexible.
If you follow the recommendations we have given you for planting alfalfa, you may get a good harvest. Do you have any other tips to share with us?