Debra,

If you have a feed store handy, they often have 50 lb. bags of dried molasses at very low prices....much lower than the dried molasses sold as a horticultural amendment. People who've used both say it seems to work as well.

If liquid is all you can find, you want to apply 1 pint of molasses per 1,000 s.f. and, for your first application, you probably could apply it at twice that rate if you want to. How much to dilute it is up to you. It doesn't really matter as long as you manage to get the right amount spread out on the soil.

The first time I used molasses (it was VERY hard to find even in feed stores and nurseries back then), I bought it on the syrup row at the grocery store. Later on, I was able to find blackstrap molasses at a feed store that carried organic gardening amendments.

Dawn

dawn, which brings up the question, do you think sugar works as well? it is pretty cheap.

I think it works just about as well. I don't think it has as much sulphur as molasses, but not everyone needs to add sulphur anyway.

If molasses is hard to find, I'd use sugar. (And, if you need a lot of it for a fairly large property, you can get it in 25-lb bags at warehouse stores like Sam's or CostCo.)

Dawn

I can check with a couple of feed stores, but most of the ones I can get to are pretty much in town and only seem to carry a limited amount of the sort of things you'd expect at such a store in the country. I went to one to buy some more corn chops for the birds only to find out they were temporarily out of stock. The young lady there suggested their pre-mixed birdseed, telling me, "...and it doesn't have any milo in it." I took her at her word and bought a bag. Got it home and read the label (yes, I know, should have done that in the store!). Sure enough, milo was not listed on the label - sorghum was!

I always figured I should know all about the goods/services provided by the company I work for and at least some about whatever business/industry my company caters to. I don't feel it's unreasonable to expect the same attitude from any company I spend money with. Certainly, it makes it tough to trust the employees to know what they're talking about.

My other problem is I don't own a car. I ride to work with an old friend who works for the same entity (different departments though) and will happily stop at the grocery store along the way if I need to, or I take the bus to shop. Except for grocery shopping, I do most of my shopping online. It's quite convenient having things delivered right to your door, and there are plenty of places on the internet who actually have better prices than local stores, not to mention the ability to find things you can find locally.

I will check a couple of feed stores first before I decide. Certainly, dry seems likely to be easier to apply since I should be able to use a spreader for that. Likely I would have to use a 2 gallon watering can for the liquid, but there is something to be said for having it delivered right to my door. I also wonder if liquid wouldn't be a form that the critters could make use of more quickly.

One more thing, is there any reason I can't apply molasses (either form) now? Is this something that should only be applied during certain times of the year or specific temperature ranges?

Thanks for all your help!

Debra

Debra,

I love, love, love online shopping and do more and more of it as time goes on. I just think of shipping costs as money I'd otherwise spend on gasoline. With some companies, though, shipping costs really are escalating lately. I try to shop around for the best shipping.

You can apply dry or wet molasses anytime and it will work. I wouldn't apply it in the very coldest of winter weather because the biological life in the soil does slow down then, but I think the molasses would work anytime.

And, you're welcome.

Dawn

thanks. i put sugar on my lawn this afternoon with a spreader, but i ended up using twice as much. oh, well.

online shopping is often cheaper because shipping is cheaper than buying gas and going shopping. depends on where you live and what you are looking for.

You can get some pretty good deals on shipping, depending on where you shop and what you're looking for. Anything listed as "sold by and ships from" Amazon usually has free shipping if the total order is $25 or more. Many stores, including Ace Hardware, Walmart, and I think J.C. Penney offer free shipping to their nearest store. You'd still have to go pick it up, but, especially at Christmas time, it's nice to avoid the crowds and lines.

One of the things I like best about online shopping is the ability to read reviews from other customers. You get to see what other ordinary people, as opposed to "expert" reviewers, have to say about the product before you decide to buy it.

There are some things I'm not comfortable buying unless I can see/touch it for myself, but I have found that I can look around at stores to see a product and determine if I really want it, then buy it cheaper online.

Debra
My all-time favorite on-line shopping discovery was college textbooks when our son started college in 2003. Our son's first year in college, we were in the bookstore preparing to write a BIG check. I started talking to a young married student who explained that she and her husband copied down the important book info, including the ISBN#, at the bookstore, and then went home and ordered them online. It was too late that year to do that since classes started the next day or so, but we bought them online after that and saved huge amounts of money.

A few days ago, son's fiancee' ordered her books for the fall semester, and she spent about $140 for books that would have cost around $500 at the college book store. You can't always get all your college textbooks online, but you can get most of them that way. Her biggest saving this year was a book in "excellent" condition for $3.00 (plus shipping) that was $77.00 (plus shipping) new.

I'm a big bargain shopper, so I shop the "outlet" and "sale" section of my favorite websites and I always watch for "free shipping" offers, which are fairly common.

I also find some really good deals on E-bay.

We even found our volunteer fire department's Fire Engine online, through an online used fire equipment dealer, and we found it at an incredibly, incredibly low price. We NEVER could have raised the money to buy that fire engine (even though it was older and "used") through normal channels. I do love shopping online.

Dawn

I told a woman that I know about using molasses or sugar on a lawn, and she immeditately said that it would cause fungus. Her husband is a gardener but uses chemicals. Is there anything that says that this won't happen? I don't believe it bue just want to know.

also read that it chases fire ants away. this is good news, but we don't have them here yet.

Jessaka,

First of all, when anyone who gardens chemically criticizes any part of an organic gardening program, I just ignore their comments. If they don't garden organically, then how do they know? For the opinion of experts who garden organically, you could go to the Organic Lawn Care forum and ask this question there if you want to.

2. I have never seen any research or reports that support her claim. But, I haven't seen any research or reports that say molasses does not cause fungal growth either because it is hard (almost impossible) to "prove" a negative.

3. On a personal basis, I have never had any fungal issues in the lawn or in the garden that I believe resulted from the use of molasses or sugar, either dried or liquid, either alone or as an ingredient in Garrett Juice.

4. Fungi exist EVERYWHERE. Even though our clay soil is dry 98% of the time in the summer, if we get an inch or two of rain and the ground is wet for a day or so you'll see a green fungal growth appear on the surface of the clay. What causes it? Well, either the fungi live on the soil surface and grow when wet, or the fungi is in the rain. So, maybe someone has blamed the appearance of fungi on the use of molasses, but the odds are the fungi was already there to begin with OR was in the rain OR had airborne spores that landed on the area and sprouted. Odds are, though, the fungus wasn't "caused" by the use of molasses.

The use of sugar or molasses does drive fire ants away. It has been observed and documented by many, many people who use molasses or sugar in home gardens and in commercial gardening or farming. The reason is that fire ants thrive in poor soil (for example, heavy clay with little organic material or extremely fast-draining sandy soil with no organic material). Molasses/suger stimulates microbial activity and that is what drives the ants away--the healthier soil.

When we lived in Texas, some massive lawn problems emerged in the 1980s that caused lots and lots of damage to turfgrasses. One of them was called takeall patch, at the time, but there were others as well. When all was said and done, the primary causes were too much chemical fertilizer and too much irrigation and, especially, the combination of too much fertilizer and excess irrigation, and most especially that combination during periods of peak heating. Howard Garrett (a Texas organic gardening guru, aka The Dirt Doctor) had it figured out WAY BEFORE any of the chemically-oriented horticulturalists. He was the first one, as I can recall, who realized these lawn problems that were wildly rampant there at that time were being seen only on chemically-maintained lawns.

In the early 1980s, when I was starting to move towards a more organic way of veggie and fruit growing, but not yet maintaining the lawn organically, we had some of those fungal issues on our own St. Augustine lawn. When I dropped the chemical usage, went organic, and stopped overwintering, those fungal problems stopped pretty much overnight and I haven't had any since.

So, all I'm saying is that based on what I've observed in my lifetime, fungal diseases occur much, much more commonly on chemically-maintained lawns than on organically-maintained ones. And, it isn't just on lawns. In the D-FW metro area, Red-Tipped Photinias are completely overused and are everywhere. They have severe foliar issues there and, guess what? Those fungal issues with their foliage exists in the same conditions that cause lawn fungal problems. Imagine that!

Dawn

thanks. makes a lot of sense.