Molasses the wonder drug

[ChanellG]

That is just one of hundreds of web sites that prove molasses works. But......molasses is Not an instant fix, nor is it an every day thing that you add to your gardening regime. A good shot of molasses as a soil drench once a month is plenty. Myself, I put it in my compost tea at the rate of 1 oz per 5 gallon bucket and I water my plants with the tea. I try to keep a small amount available to the fungi and bacteria at all times.

I was just reading on another web site about using it as a foliar spray to help plants thrive and fight off pests. It's going to take me a while to graduate to compost tea, especially if I have to use a pump to do it. I am much more likely to use a weak molasses and water spray to help early plants along. This other site recommends spraying every two weeks. You think that is too much?

 

[Chuck]

I was just reading on another web site about using it as a foliar spray to help plants thrive and fight off pests. It's going to take me a while to graduate to compost tea, especially if I have to use a pump to do it. I am much more likely to use a weak molasses and water spray to help early plants along. This other site recommends spraying every two weeks. You think that is too much?

When using molasses to spray foliage as a deterrent to insects in my experience every 14 days is a little too long. In my climate where it gets warmer earlier I find that about every 10 days works better especially during the heat of summer. I have also found out that if you add 1 oz of liquid seaweed with the molasses mix you can extend the time line to about every 2 1/2 weeks before the insects are able to do any significant damage. This does not apply to grasshoppers though. When using the molasses mix you will find that the only major pests to your tomatoes, peppers and eggplants will be worms and if you mix Bt in with the molasses mix you will eliminate them as well.

 

[ChanellG]

Good to know, @Chuck! Again, thanks for the info. For the past two years I have been alternating between spraying aspirin water and banana peel water. I didn't have that many edibles, mainly just herbs and flowers. Last year I started growing strawberries and cherry tomatoes and I began using Epsom salt. Now I have started to use fish emulsion.

I am a little concerned about it all becoming overkill. This year I plan to put in a few more edibles in garden #1, garden #2 has been scaled back significantly and won't need my attention, and garden #3 is primarily herbs, but has citrus and will soon have tomatoes.

The herbs don't need a lot of feeding, though I do want to encourage as much growth as possible as the plants in garden #3 will be frequently harvested. Spraying molasses seems it will provide a benefit similar to spraying aspirin, but I am concerned about how the spraying will effect harvesting (and the subsequent ingesting of aspirin and molasses).

I like the idea of seaweed - it adds minerals, correct? As I said, I don't want to go overboard and end up doing the plants more harm than good.

 

[Chuck]

Good to know, @Chuck! Again, thanks for the info. For the past two years I have been alternating between spraying aspirin water and banana peel water. I didn't have that many edibles, mainly just herbs and flowers. Last year I started growing strawberries and cherry tomatoes and I began using Epsom salt. Now I have started to use fish emulsion.

I am a little concerned about it all becoming overkill. This year I plan to put in a few more edibles in garden #1, garden #2 has been scaled back significantly and won't need my attention, and garden #3 is primarily herbs, but has citrus and will soon have tomatoes.

The herbs don't need a lot of feeding, though I do want to encourage as much growth as possible as the plants in garden #3 will be frequently harvested. Spraying molasses seems it will provide a benefit similar to spraying aspirin, but I am concerned about how the spraying will effect harvesting (and the subsequent ingesting of aspirin and molasses).

I like the idea of seaweed - it adds minerals, correct? As I said, I don't want to go overboard and end up doing the plants more harm than good.

This is what is great about organics. You really can't go overboard. You might reach a point of diminishing returns but common sense will tell you when too much is too much. Unlike chemicals where you can literally do great harm.
Yes, liquid seaweed does add minerals but it does something else too. It actually makes the "skin" of your plants tougher, thereby making it more difficult for insects to damage them by their sucking and chewing on them.

 

[ChanellG]

This is what is great about organics. You really can't go overboard. You might reach a point of diminishing returns but common sense will tell you when too much is too much. Unlike chemicals where you can literally do great harm.
Yes, liquid seaweed does add minerals but it does something else too. It actually makes the "skin" of your plants tougher, thereby making it more difficult for insects to damage them by their sucking and chewing on them.

Good to know, thanks! I didn't see any seaweed when I picked up the fish emulsion. I'm going to have to check around to see what I can find locally. I like the sound of seaweed giving the plants thicker skin to stand up to bugs, but does that mean they will be tougher when I'm ready to start chewing on them? LOL

 

[Chuck]

Good to know, thanks! I didn't see any seaweed when I picked up the fish emulsion. I'm going to have to check around to see what I can find locally. I like the sound of seaweed giving the plants thicker skin to stand up to bugs, but does that mean they will be tougher when I'm ready to start chewing on them? LOL

If you can't find liquid seaweed liquid kelp is just as good

 

[ChanellG]

If you can't find liquid seaweed liquid kelp is just as good

I thought kelp was seaweed. I've been toying with the idea of just getting regular seaweed at the store for some time now. People say it's expensive, but when you're making tea, you're adding water and stretching it. Also, I eat it so it's not like buying it twice. I'd just save a bit to make the garden "tea."

 

[Chuck]

I thought kelp was seaweed. I've been toying with the idea of just getting regular seaweed at the store for some time now. People say it's expensive, but when you're making tea, you're adding water and stretching it. Also, I eat it so it's not like buying it twice. I'd just save a bit to make the garden "tea."

It is, just a different type and from a different place

 

[Rosyrain]

Wouldn't molasses make the soil very sticky? I would be concerned if I put it in the grass because my kids walk through the grass and I would not want them tracking it into the house. I would be willing to try it in my potted flowers and plants.

 

[Chuck]

Wouldn't molasses make the soil very sticky? I would be concerned if I put it in the grass because my kids walk through the grass and I would not want them tracking it into the house. I would be willing to try it in my potted flowers and plants.

No, it isn't sticky at all. You dilute it to about 2 oz per gallon of water. With that amount all it does is discolor the water. Just let it dry a few minutes and you won't even know it is there.

 

[Rosyrain]

Thanks Chuck. I had visions of taking a bottle of molasses and just dumping it in the yard. My neighbors probably would have looked at me as if I had lost my mind or something.

 

[ChanellG]

Well, I got myself a jar of molasses at the grocery store and put some in a jug of water. I used some of it to water the raised bed #3 (conditioned the soil before planting) and I gave the rest to the Meyer lemon trees, which have started to bud and flower.

 

[nonnarae]

http://www.rcwsproutings.com/?p=471


so those of you who use molasses for insects. This really helps? A lot?

 

[Chuck]

http://www.rcwsproutings.com/?p=471


so those of you who use molasses for insects. This really helps? A lot?

It is hard to say because when I spray it I don't spray only a portion of my garden I spray the whole thing. I rarely have any insect problems at all except for spider mites and I can control them if I get the timing right by using a mixture of molasses, spinosad and liquid seaweed. But using only organic products and organic methods is the real secret to insect control. Using oil based fertilizers and pesticides literally depletes the soil of organic mater and micro-organisims needed for nutrient uptake and the chemical pesticides can actually weaken the plant

 

[ChanellG]

I think it's working for me. When I feed it to citrus it does seem to promote more flowering. I just sprayed the tomatoes and some other plants again after reading another article that said raising the sugar content in the leaves protects them from bug attack because the bugs can't digest the plant material.