Would you use this Molasses?

16 years ago

I went to my local feed dealer to buy liquid molasses @ $3.00 a gallon. When I got there I looked at the ingredients, and to my surprise it had quite a few. Below is the list of ingredients as listed on the label.

Ingredients:

Cane Molasses

Phosphoric Acid

Vegetable Oil

Lecithin

Propionic Acid

Sulfuric Acid

I was planing on applying it @ 2-4oz per gallon to cover 1000sqft on sandy soil.

Would you guys use this on your organic lawn?

Featured Answer

skoot_cat
Original Author

16 years ago

Thanks everyone for the replies.

I did some research on some of those "other" ingredients and heres what I found: (below pertains to food uses)

Phosphoric Acid - It serves as an acidic, fruit-like flavoring in food products.

Lecithin - Regarded as a well-tolerated and non-toxic surfactant. Lecithin is an integral part of cell membranes, and can be totally metabolized.

Propionic Acid - Inhibits the growth of mold and some bacteria. As a result, most propionic acid produced is used as a preservative for both animal feed and food for human consumption, and can be used as a preservative for Ballistics Gel. It is also used to make pesticides and pharmaceuticals.

Sulfuric Acid - Sulfured molasses is made from young green sugar cane and is treated with sulfur dioxide, which acts as a preservative, during the sugar extraction process. Unsulfured molasses is made from mature sugar cane and does not require treatment with sulfur during the extraction process. There are three grades of molasses, Mild or first molasses, Dark or second molasses, and Black strap. These grades may be sulfured or unsulfured.

Needless to say, Im not going to use it.

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Comments (7)

dchall_san_antonio
16 years ago
I would and I have. The results were invisible if any, but other people who I respect swear by the stuff.
Gags
16 years ago
Aren't you supposed to use un-sulphured molasses? I thought the sulfuric acid had a negative effect on the microbes. Unless I have it backwards, and it should be sulphured (sp?) molasses.

Anyone know where the other ingredients come from? (Phosphoric acid, Lecithin, Propionic acid) - and why they're added? I'm assuming vegetable oil is to help it "flow".

Thanks,

Gags
decklap
16 years ago
Agree with gags. Its been my understanding for years that unsulphured shows better results under the microscope in teas so I've always assumed the same would be true in soil. I don't think in and of itself that it'll work miracles on sandy soil. I have used feed grade dry molasses in tea and broadcast with good but anecdotal results.
dchall_san_antonio
16 years ago
All true as far as I know. Maybe that's why the performance on my yard has been invisible.
rdak
16 years ago
I get deer molasses from the feed store for $4.00 per gallon. (I assume this is the final boil, or blackstrap molasses type[?], whether it is unsulphured or not, I have no idea.)

It must be good stuff because my aerated compost teas explode with bacterial growth when I use it.

Also use it mixed in a sprayer and the plants all show some benefit. Lawn gets greener, trees and shrubs get more growth, etc.

I've read it has a decent amount of potassium, iron and calcium.

It's so cheap for me that I've used it for decades. For me, it's good stuff IMHO.
rdak
16 years ago
Here's a pretty good article on molasses in the feed industry. (Decent tables of what is in it, etc.)

I assume the molasses I buy is from sugar beets because so much of that crop is grown in my region. It is lower in calcium and phosphorous but higher in potassium and sodium than cane molasses IIRC.

http://rcrec-ona.ifas.ufl.edu/mol.pdf

Also, note ALL molasses has some sulphur in it as part of the plant.