Molasses.....How much?

[louster]

I've been reading about how good molasses is for the soil microbes, so I bought a 50 lb bag of the dried stuff. What I'm wondering now, is at what rate do I apply it, and how often? My garden is about 1500 sq ft. I also have two compost piles, maybe 3' by 3', and I hear its good stuff to speed things up there, too, so how much should I mix into the piles? Thanks in advance!!

PS....Sorry if this has been discussed before, I did a search here and over at GW, but didn't come up with anything.

[dice]

WWW sites with recommendations usually run from 1/2 to 1
pound per 100 sq. ft., but some recommend more for particular
kinds of problems. So I would guess you could put 1/2 the bag
on your 1500 sq. ft. and have the other 1/2 left over for adding
to compost, making compost tea, using next year, etc. (Once a
year in spring should be good enough for a soil application.)

[louster]

Thanks, dice. That's what I'll do, then!

[Ross]

Your use of a dry molasses to stimulate microbial activity in the subsurface soils is a wise one. (The liquid applications also have the same benefit as well.) Many will agree that the dry product allows for convenient sprinkling whether done in the process of backfilling around a transplant or simply upon the surface. One's routine watering will start the dissolving process that carries the substance further down by percolation.

It is excellent to apply around established perennial plants, shrubs and trees. If there is any mulch cover one might pull that mulch cover back in a circular ring away from the trunk/stem, scratch open that soil surface a bit, apply some fresh compost material, sprinkle on some dry molasses, and then push the mulch cover back into its original place. Water the ground adequately and re-awaken the soil at that plant by virtue of that molasses and compost. It is also an excellent material for enhancing compost pile activity. Open up the pile, sprinkle some into the core, and water it well.

I am always asked about the "exact amount" for applying many of the organic products we offer. Bag labeling offers sincere suggestions that allow one to introduce enough while avoiding the possibility of applying too much. In the practice of truly natural and organic soil supplementation it is quite difficult to apply the "wrong" amount of anything. One can surely waste money by exceeding common sense but the real secret is to merely recognize that introducing SOME amount of several organic, soil-building and soil-feeding substances far exceeds the option for using NONE, at all........(and perhaps falling victim to the old trap of the truly "chemical approach" to "fertilizing" what one is growing !).

Ross
Sales Mgr.
Colorado Springs
www.soilmender.com

[veggie babe]

great information, thanks for sharing. This is my first year to try organic gardening, it's going well. I love homemade recipes for insect control and plant feeding.

neva

[Polar_Lace]

louster,

Here's a search I did here at Tomatoville using the word..... molasses

Just to give you more info on what people here have been talking about. I hope you read them so you can learn more.

~* Robin

[louster]

Thanks, all. Yes, I had read a lot about the benefits of molasses, but not how much to apply. I've been gardening a long time, but only recently have been converted to organic. There's a lot to learn!!

[dice]

Last year I used liquid molasses. I treated it like fish emulsion,
2 Tablespoons per gallon of water. When making aerated
compost tea, I used 1/2 cup of molasses (plus the compost, etc)
in 5 gallons of water.

Seemed to work fine.