Does Salt or Sugar Affect the Growth of Alfalfa Seeds?

Growing from Seed

• Alfalfa seeds require very little to grow. In fact, the less amendments there are in the soil, the better off they will be. Moderate levels of nitrogen and other minerals can burn up a young seedling. Also, amendments to the soil can introduce bacteria or fungi that can detrimentally affect the growth of the alfalfa. It is best to grow alfalfa in a completely sterile soil or in a soil-free mixture.

Salt and Sugar as Nutrients

• Salt contains many of the minerals which plants require to grow healthily. Salts are present in almost any soil in large enough quantities for plants to uptake what they require. A young alfalfa seedling should be able to find more than enough minerals in whatever soil it is placed without the addition of salt. Sugars are the most important element to alfalfa growth, but sugars are created through the process of photosynthesis. Adding sugar to the soil is unnecessary.

Dangers of Salt

• Unless added in very minute quantities, salt is actually very dangerous to add to a soil medium, whether you are growing small alfalfa sprouts or large trees out of the soil. In moderate doses, salt attracts water to such an extent that moisture is almost completely denied to a plant growing near it. Too much salt in soil can render that soil permanently useless.

Dangers of Sugar

• In general, plants, including alfalfa, do not uptake sugar from the soil. The whole purpose of photosynthesis is to create sugar from sunlight and carbon dioxide. Plants get all the sugar they need as long as they are receiving enough sunlight. Adding sugar to the soil has a similar effect as adding soil. When it gets wet, it clumps up and clogs up the tiny spaces between soil molecules where water and air flow freely. When no room is left for oxygen or water, an alfalfa sprouts root system becomes incapable of respiration and water uptake, and will die rapidly as a result.