Molasses, Did You Know?

[Polar_Lace]

Nice, dice! Mucho gracias! (Thank you very much!)

~* Robin

[brog]

Thanks Dice Thats info I needed most likely would have bought some kitchen product

[dice]

[essential oils]

Handle with care. Many essential oils are "sensitizing" (cause
a local allergic reaction) to the skin, and they can burn the heck
out of you in their undiluted form (cinnamon oil and oregano oil
come immediately to mind in that context; get a drop of cinnamon
oil on you and it feels like someone touched you with a red-hot poker).
They are not water soluble, so they need to be mixed with some kind
of solvent or surfactant to mix up well. Castille soap and Murphy's
Oil Soap both work to let the oil disperse evenly in solution so
that you can spray it. Cheap liquid dish soap probably works,
too, but what all is in it? Castille and Murphy's are both
vegetable-derived soaps.

One formula for neem oil, for example, is 1 tablespoon of raw
Neem Oil and 1 tablespoon of Murphy's in a gallon of water,
mix well, spray on for bug repellent. Neem oil needs to be
at 80F/27C temperature for the fats in it to stay liquid, by
the way. It is not distilled like an essential oil, it is simply
pressed out of neem seeds. Unlike many essential oils, neem
oil will not burn on contact with your skin (in fact it is a pretty
good skin conditioner).

Edit:
Completely off-topic, but Vetiver is one of the best essential oils
around simply for the scent. It is expensive as essential oils go,
and its anti-bacterial properties cited in one study are a fiction,
but as an aroma it is wonderful. Not sensitizing to the skin
(does not burn).

[mensplace]

Originally Posted by dice

[essential oils]

Handle with care. Many essential oils are "sensitizing" (cause
a local allergic reaction) to the skin, and they can burn the heck
out of you in their undiluted form (cinnamon oil and oregano oil
come immediately to mind in that context; get a drop of cinnamon
oil on you and it feels like someone touched you with a red-hot poker).

You are exactly right about the care needed with essential oils! Once, I purchased some oregano oil external use. The wife made the mistake of swallowing a teaspoon of the stuff. She won't ever do that again. Too me, that's exactly the problem with many of the things called "natural". I'm reminded of ephedra. With many of the natural products such as herbs and esential oils there is little to identify exactly how much is needed or safe, much less how much you are getting in teas or similar applications. Reminded of when I bought some yellow root at a local market...talk about dropping the BP. Too, last year I saw Pennyroyal being sold at Lowes among the other mints...never mind what it could do to a child...not to mention instant abortions.
Now I see that some are experimenting with Thymol...the essential oil from thyme.. to fight virus diseases on plants. Wonder how a solution of Thyme, Rosemary, and Oregano oil would work as a spray...but then again, how much?

[dice]

Wonder how a solution of Thyme, Rosemary, and Oregano oil would work as a spray...but then again, how much?

Better as an anti-bacterial than as an anti-fungal, IIRC. These
are all sensitizing to my skin undiluted, with rosemary oil the
most tolerable.

The scents of thyme and rosemary oils are wonderful, though
(what I think of as a "sweet, bright green" scent, like
eucalyptus).

For a spray, I would probably try 1/4 teaspoon of each with
a teaspoon of liquid soap in a gallon of water.

[mensplace]

http://cfcs.eea.uprm.edu/Presentations/CP/CP-3.pdf

Experiments with thymol on tomatoes

[amideutch]

For you folks in Europe here is a online store where you can buy molasses and EM (Effective Microorganisms) products. Ami

http://www.em-chiemgau.de/php/produk...ail.php?id=143

[amideutch]

I'm bumping this thread as there has been interest of late concerning molasses. The link in my initial post is a good one explaining the the how and whys for using molasses. Ami

[JamesL]

Thanks Ami! Been following the new threads, but I hadn't seen this thread. A good read.

[The Future]

I have been making compost tea for years with dried molasses inoculated with beneficial fungi. All my seedlings are thus fed. It is great stuff. Buy it in bulk (dried) for best value for money.

[TightenUp]

ami

are you still using biobizz biogrow or have you switched over to plain old molasses? i saw great results with the biogrow on my seedlings and plan to use as a fert every once in a while during the season. im also using the biogrow as my sticker.

any idea what the difference is between biogrow and regular molasses?

[habitat_gardener]

Has anyone used feed-store alfalfa that includes molasses? Or is it better to buy them separately?

I asked a friend who's in the MG program why they caution people to buy only alfalfa and avoid the one with added molasses. She said the molasses attracts ants!

[amideutch]

Jeff, they be two different animals. BioGrow is a complete fertilizer used as my primary feed and molasses is used as a spreader sticker/foliar and with inorganic ferts (when I use them) as a supplement for the soil organisms. Ami

[TightenUp]

in your opinion is there any reason i shouldnt be using biogrow as a sticker?

[amideutch]

Actually we are talking two different animals with "Spreader/Stickers.

Spreaders (also called surfactants): Typically reduce surface tension of water, and so cause water to spread more uniformly across surfaces

Stickers:Increase tackiness or ability to stick to surfaces, and thus help the organisms stick to leaf, bark, flower, or seed surfaces

Spreaders would be dish soap, COCO Wet, anything that reduces surface tension and allow complete coverage of the surface.

Stickers would be your Molasses and Yucca that make the product stick to the plants surface.

I have used all of the above and found molasses works best for me which I also add to my soil drenches as I said in my last post.

The only reason I can see in not using BioGrow for a sticker is it's viscosity is lower than that of molasses which makes it more suited for the job. Otherwise use the BioGrow if you prefer.
Ami