Molasses: When do you use it? How much of it? And how do you prepare it?
 

I've been reading that you can add it to fertilizers, make teas out of it, use it as a soil drench or for a foliar feed. How often do you use it? And under what circumstances? I haven't checked out Tractor Supply yet, but I've read that you can get molasses that is for livestock feed that is much cheaper than molasses for human consumption.

Shannon -

My local Tractor Supply sells liquid molasses for $8/gallon. I dilute it with water, one cup in a two gallon watering can, and use one water can in a 4x8 raised bed as a soil drench. I've only just begun using it when preparing new beds and don't know if it's beneficial or not nor have I established frequency of use. I have an RKN problem and have read that molasses feeds good microorganisms thus lessening RKN populations.

So, this practice of organic gardening is feeding the bugs, rather than feeding the soil. The good bugs though. Ok. I guess at $8/gal you're not out much if you don't see any results.

I bookmarked the following sites when they were cited in a previous thread about using molasses in the garden:

[url]http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-growing/546566-molasses.html[/url]

[url]http://buymarijuanaseeds.com/community/threads/molasses-is-sweet-organic-goodness.95401/[/url]

normally I go through 1-2qts of molasses a year for 40-50 plants. I apply it as a foliar, use as a spreader sticker and add to my ferts when watering my plants. Normally I apply at 1 week intervals. 1-2 tbls per gallon as a soil drench and less when used as a foliar. Ami

I use it in pecan pie, BBQ sauce and pancakes.
I use it sparingly.
And its a byproduct from making sugar.:P

Worth

The nice, thick, blackstrap molasses is about 5% potassium, plus some
trace minerals (iron, etc). So if I have something that is 4-3-4 at a
tablespoon per gallon, and I add a tablespoon of molasses to it, now
it is 4-3-9. Tomatoes demand for potassium goes up when fruit are
setting and ripening, so this is a good thing.

For the microbes, it is basically a sugar that any bacteria will feast on
and multiply their numbers immensely. It is a great thing to add to
compost.

I am still working on a gallon of this stuff that I got a couple of years
ago: [url]http://www.agrisupply.com/Molasses-Gallon/p/55477/&sid=&eid=/[/url]
(It is marketed for wild game feeding stations, and it has a kind of
standard of its own: 27% Moisture Max, 43% total sugars, and 82 Brix,
minimum. As thick as any molasses that you would find at a grocer.)

If you've got lots of plants (or animals), some places, such as feed mills or farm supply stores, sell it in 5 gallon containers.

I buy a fifty pound bag of dried molasses, on some type of grain product at a feed supply store. I believe it is used as a supplement for horse feeding. I just broadcast some on top of my beds after fall clean up, along with a bit of alfalfa meal and rock dust and rake it in before covering with shredded leaves. Will also add some to my hole planting mix in spring.

[QUOTE=amideutch;250933]normally I go through 1-2qts of molasses a year for 40-50 plants. I apply it as a foliar, use as a spreader sticker and add to my ferts when watering my plants. Normally I apply at 1 week intervals. 1-2 tbls per gallon as a soil drench and less when used as a foliar. Ami[/QUOTE]

Ami,
So for a soil drench, once you add the 1-2 Tbls of molasses to a gallon of water how many plants/pots would you be able to feed with this one gallon and what other liquid ferts are you adding at the same time?

Also is it better to water each plant first then top it off with the molasses/fert drench or the other way around?

and thanks for the pic of the actinovate I've been so immersed in the dwarf project threads lately that I missed it when you first posted it!

ginny

My problem with molasses is that it is very thick and doesnt dissolve well. What do you folks do to get it dissolve real good? I have used hot water, which works ok.

I have handled this two ways. One is that I just add it to my Compost Soup and let the blender to the work. I have also used this, which can be place inline before a regular water sprinkler. [url]http://www.tractorsupply.com/groundwork-reg-hose-end-sprayer-4428585[/url]. The latter works super for Fish Emulsion as well.

MDVPC

Its a little bit of trouble but works great. I heat a large coffee cup of water in the microwave to boiling, then put in two tablespoons of molasses and stir till dissolved. then pour into a gallon plastic pitcher filled with hot tap water and stir again.It will dissolve completely. Then pour into a sprayer and use as soil drench. Let it cool sufficiently if you are using it as foliage spray. Works great for me,well worth the extra effort.

ron

[QUOTE]Ami,
So for a soil drench, once you add the 1-2 Tbls of molasses to a gallon of water how many plants/pots would you be able to feed with this one gallon and what other liquid ferts are you adding at the same time?
[/QUOTE]

In my raised bed at work I use a 10 Liter watering can and normally 1 can is good for 3 Plants. I add the molasses to either BioBizz BioGrow or GH Floratomato which I used for the first time last year with excellent results. Normally I will alternate my weekly feedings between BioBizz and Floratomato.
Plants in containers I can usually get 4-5 with 1 can. The easiest way to mix your molasses is to get a quart Jar and fill half way with water and put in a couple spoons of molasses. Stir to get most of the molasses off the spoon then put the lid on the jar and shake vigorously till the molasses is dissolved. Pour into your watering can or whatever, add your water and ferts if so desired and fill with water. I use a garden hose with a nozzle so I can agitate the mix real good when filling the can.

When I apply my Actinovate/Exel LG I use a 5 liter pressure sprayer (the kind you pump up) and do the same trick with premixing the molasses in a Jar but would normally use 1 tbls per gallon. The molasses feeds the plants and acts as a spreader sticker for the Actinovate/Exel.

Ami

Pecan pie, BBQ sauce, homemade Worchestershire sauce, other marinades, baked ham, caramelized on pork chops, on top of cornbread, mixed with butter and smeared on hot biscuits, and in baked beans.