Molasses for Your Garden

I discussed dried molasses in articles from several years ago. Actually, dried molasses isn’t actually pure molasses at all. It has a grain reside base that is sprayed with liquid molasses. The result is a product that stimulates microbes and repels fire ants. Liquid molasses is a by-product in the manufacturing of sugar and contains additional nutrients and trace minerals in helping to build up organic soil. It heavily feeds microbes, especially bacteria, some of which aid in fixing nitrogen from the air and converting the gas to ammonia, as well as other beneficial compounds in the soil. While some consider liquid molasses to be expensive, it’s usually sprayed at a rate of 2 ounces per gallon of water and covers up to 1,000 square feet of garden soil. This considerably lowers its overall cost to use. Dried molasses applied at a rate of a couple handfuls per mound will make the fire ants move somewhere else, hopefully into your neighbor’s yard!!! On the other hand, liquid molasses will kill the mound with 2 ounces each of orange oil and liquid molasses in a gallon of water. Amount to use is dependent on the size of the mound. Liquid molasses can even kill nutgrass! Use ½-1 cup per gallon of water to cover roughly 10 square feet of the weed. Repeat applications are usually required to kill the dastardly weed, but it will work. In addition to its pest fighting ability, liquid molasses increases the health of your garden vegetables, which means pests are likely to attack them. For best plant results, it is suggested to use the liquid application as a supplement at least once a month, and twice is better. For more interesting information read about using milk and liquid molasses (Google milk & molasses) in your garden!