Molasses, Did You Know?

[dice]

I treated an iron deficiency one year with a parsley [edit: !celery]
plant pureed with water in a blender and a double dose of fish
emulsion. It was a pretty mild deficiency, just starting in the growing
tips, but that worked. (The fish was overkill. It was a Madara plant
that took off like a rocket a couple of weeks later and grew
over the top of the 6' trellis and started back down the other
side, but at least it did fix the iron deficiency.)

[RayR]

Celery? I never would have thought of that if I had a iron deficiency problem, which I've never had.

[dice]

[edit: Actually it was not a celery plant, it was a parsley plant.]

That was the first time I had seen iron deficiency symptoms, in
the first leaves to develop under the growing tips. I had read
somewhere that parsely [not celery] was high in iron (for a
vegetable), and I had several good-sized volunteer
parsley [not celery] plants growing at
different places in the garden, so sacrificing one was no real
loss.

[dice]

Actually you were right RayR, it was not a celery plant, it was
a parsley plant that was supposed to be high in iron. (Posts
edited above to reflect the correction.) And that was what I
used on the Madara plant that was showing iron deficiency
symptoms, a pureed, fairly large parsley plant watered into
the soil around the base of the plant with the deficiency.

(These days I have liquid chelated iron, and I foliar feed with that
to correct iron deficiencies. My plants show it when the soil is
saturated from several days of rain.)

[Tapout]

In other molasses threads I thought it was the general consensus that you shouldn't use molasses with iron in it because of all the extra additives they put into that mix.

[RayR]

I wasn't doubting you Dice, Celery is supposed to be high in iron too.
I just never thought of pureed plant to treat a deficiency on another plant.
Well, I always have plenty of parsley in the garden, so if I ever run into a iron deficiency, I would give it a try.

[dice]

I was picturing the parsley plant in my memory and
for some reason thinking "celery". I do not usually let
celery go to seed, so I would not have celery plants
volunteering. But I do let parsley plants go to seed,
because I read that the flowers attract some kind
of beneficial mini-wasp whose larvae prey on pests,
hence I have parsley volunteers.

[RayR]

Originally Posted by Tapout

In other molasses threads I thought it was the general consensus that you shouldn't use molasses with iron in it because of all the extra additives they put into that mix.

What thread was that? What extra additives?

[kilroyscarnival]

Hi, I was just wondering whether molasses from the supermarket that isn't labeled "blackstrap" is any different than the type you all use? I bought some last year for some gingerbread biscotti (which turned out to be a baking disaster...) and was wondering whether it would work. It is labeled as unsulphered molasses and looks similar to the Grandma's brand, but is a supermarket label (Publix.) They had a different brand labeled "blackstrap" - but as far as I can find out, blackstrap is just a thicker, darker boiled-down version, yes?

[Cole_Robbie]

It should be fine. Blackstrap has a higher nutrient content, but the value of molasses as a fertilizer is in its sugar, which feeds the beneficial bacteria that are responsible for nutrient uptake.

[kilroyscarnival]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

It should be fine. Blackstrap has a higher nutrient content, but the value of molasses as a fertilizer is in its sugar, which feeds the beneficial bacteria that are responsible for nutrient uptake.

Thanks. I'd certainly like to give it a try, and use some of it up as it's been sitting in the cupboard since the previous Christmas. I'd like to try it to get the microbes going in the soil under front lawn, and see if that helps.

[Tapout]

I will have to dig back into some threads, but it was a discussion about what type of molasses to use and Brer Rabbit Blackstrap Molasses the winner, because not all molasses's are created equal. Its a unsulfured molasses with all natural ingredients. The iron in the molasses 4% isn't added its a byproduct of the process. Some of the other brands add +iron to their mixes on top of what comes naturally from the process, and in looking further into their mixes they added several non natural additives. I also remember a conversation about buying molasses from feed stores because of how cheap it is, but that came with a caveat. Molasses from feed stores sell it as a additive for live stock food and its not pure molasses it has additives put into it for live stocks health.