Tomatoville® Gardening Forums - View Single Post - Molasses: When do you use it? How much of it? And how do you prepare it?

tuk50 · January 27, 2012

This doesn't directly answer your questions, but is posted as other uses of molasses. I make a strong tea of:
1 cup molasses
1 cup liquid kelp
1 cup cold processed fish
1 bottle non alcoholic beer (no alcohol)
into 5gal bucket and stirred a few times for 24hrs
I then use this to activate my biochar, made in our smoker while cooking. I save the charcoal crushed into a large tub about 10 or 12 gal size. Just pour over the charcoal and leave for a couple of days. The remainder of the tea is then used to drench my 2000sq ft garden in spring when night low temps reach upper 40's. then a week later I plant tomatoes, eggplants and pepper sets.
My grandpa used beer and molasses back in the 50's when I was a kid and have always used this in spring, and am convinced it works well. I've added the biochar, kelp and fish in recent years and the years I don't use this its noticeable.

I mix a tbls or 2 of the activated charcoal in the bottom of each plant put out in the spring, and start my new compost pile for that year with the remainder of the charcoal to be used that fall after first hard freeze.

January 27, 2012	#18
tuk50 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Tucson, Arizona (catalina) Posts: 413	This doesn't directly answer your questions, but is posted as other uses of molasses. I make a strong tea of: 1 cup molasses 1 cup liquid kelp 1 cup cold processed fish 1 bottle non alcoholic beer (no alcohol) into 5gal bucket and stirred a few times for 24hrs I then use this to activate my biochar, made in our smoker while cooking. I save the charcoal crushed into a large tub about 10 or 12 gal size. Just pour over the charcoal and leave for a couple of days. The remainder of the tea is then used to drench my 2000sq ft garden in spring when night low temps reach upper 40's. then a week later I plant tomatoes, eggplants and pepper sets. My grandpa used beer and molasses back in the 50's when I was a kid and have always used this in spring, and am convinced it works well. I've added the biochar, kelp and fish in recent years and the years I don't use this its noticeable. I mix a tbls or 2 of the activated charcoal in the bottom of each plant put out in the spring, and start my new compost pile for that year with the remainder of the charcoal to be used that fall after first hard freeze. __________________ Hangin on for dear life!