Has anyone else used molasses to get a stuborn bareroot tree to start growing?
I ordered a harrowsweet pear from Fedco this spring. It came with the buds partially open and tiny leaves, but hadn’t put out any new leaves by the end of July. I was worried it might not survive the winter without a little more growth, so I contacted Fedco. They recommended watering with molasses water and said it should start growing in two weeks. Two times about a week apart, I gave it 4 tbs molasses in 4 gal of water. Now about a week and a half since the last molasses treatment, it is growing new leaves!
Interesting and certainly shows how sometimes an idea that might have some merit for one particular thing suddenly becomes the cure-all.
The article does acknowledge that the molasses can support growth in the soil biome, which I expect is why this may have some merit. A newly planted tree just doesn’t have much mycorrhizal connection and if there aren’t many leaves it isn’t creating much in the way of sugars and is unlikely to be putting out exudates through the roots to help feed the soil biology and build those connections. And if the tree lost a lot of roots when it was bare-rooted there isn’t much surface area for it to absorb nutrients from the soil either. So watering with the molasses water might bring some of those carbs to the root zone and encourage the microbes in the soil and the mycorrhizal growth and connections that will help the tree get the nutrients it needs from the soil.
In this case, the tree may have also developed enough roots that it was now ready to leaf out more, so it is hard to know if the molasses really did the trick or if it was just a coincidence that the addition of molasses happened around the time the tree was ready to start growing. It would be interesting if someone did a test of planting a bunch of bare root trees and just adding water as a control to one group of trees alongside a group of trees that got some molasses water and see if there are any differences in survival and growth.
Thanks for sharing @Justin_Mi. It is nice to have another thing to try if a tree isn’t thriving.
Good writeup. It’s not science until it’s controlled and repeatable.
On a positive note I can’t think of a drawback to trying… Unless an animal digs up the spoil for the sweet smell… Or yellow jackets decide to make a home there with the extra sugars.
starch and sugars are widely used in the labs to culture microbes. Plant root exudates also contains sugars for microbes to build symbiotic relationship with plants.
the pot growers swear by this when a plant isnt growing as vigorous as it should. usually, they will add black strap molasses to their aerated compost teas and feed with that. I’ve seen a weak looking plant green right up and explode with growth within 3-4 days. most plants grown naturally benefit the most giving this concoction just as the buds are starting to grow. i never thought to try this with struggling trees. great idea!
I have incorporated a few things from pot growers into my vegetable grow. There is a lot of bro-science one has to weed out - but I like them because they aren’t afraid to run experiments and probably the most intense grow community out there.
Molasses is used by cannabis growers because it is loaded with magnesium. Magnesium is the central atom in the production of chlorophyll. More chlorophyl more energy being trapped by the plant to grow more leaves (and Buds for cannabis). It’s also high in calcium. Any one who has ever grown knows about cannabis growers chasing the cal/mag. Ha. They are too water soluble for their own good. Sugar also fires up the microbes as all ready mentioned.
Also calcium, iron, potassium, and B vitamins. It’s the left over sludge from extracting sugar cane. That’s why it’s loaded with plant nutrients; it was all in the sugar cane.
I am not convinced the Marco nutrients are the reason to use molasses. based on what I’ve read with cannabis growers they put a lot of effort to get the nutrients right in their soil. Unless the soil is deficient with calcium, magnesium etc. whatever is supplied from molasses isn’t that useful. In addition, molasses is used in tiny quantities just a sprinkle for individual plants or in tea/table spoons for watering or foliar spray.
You are right, most living soil growers skip this step/product. But honestly I know way more “bottle” growers than living soil growers. And I know way more cannabis growers than fruit growers. I have not used it in 15 years since I switch to living soil and compost/char. But I am usually flagged if I say the dreaded cannabis. So I wasn’t going to go into it. But it is the go to step for a lot of salt “bottle growers”growers. The gallon jugs of it stacked to the ceiling by the check out counter of any hydro store will attest to this.
Most growers either get molasses, or bottled cal mag. This is forever true for bottle growers that buy overpriced nutrient lines and grow in inert medias. They have to add calcium and magnesium or the plants do not thrive. Particularly coconut coir growers. Coco strips cal/mag from liquid nutrient feeds the same way raw biochar strips out nitrogen. This is a well proven fact.
I do not know if Magnesium is the special sauce in leafing out pears. But I do know that every cannabis grower buying jugs of unsulphered molasses is buying it for the calcium and magnesium as much as the sugar content. Regardless debating if it works or not. That is their motivation if they follow the advice at the grow shop or any cannabis forum. Cal mAg is a daily topic.
I agree a small amount is generally used. Yet one tspoon of molasses has more K, Mg than a bunch of bananas. I also am a huge fan of foliar spraying and use it a lot. Nitrogen teas and microbe teas multiple times a week. Yet I would say over all the cannabis community frowns heavily on foliar feeds. Especially anyone testing products for the legal market. The beneficial microbes that come along with nutrient sprays will cause failed testing every time. Most growers are watering it in and skipping the wet leaves at all cost. Either way, they are using either molasses or calmag as nutritional supplement. Real benefit or not.
Honestly I just use epsoms salt, wood ash, and char. Throw it in the tumbler a year (I have 3 of the double barrel mantis) with yard waste and table scraps. And a lot of knf ferments and home grown microbe IMO to add mycelium. Spread it while it’s fallow in the off season and leave it alone till spring. Except foliar feeds. But like I said I know more more cannabis growers than fruit growers. 99/100 don’t mess with living soil. They turn and burn and buy everything in a bottle or bag. No nature. It’s all business. Me, I like the bees, birds and tree fruits as much if not more than the cannabis.
Sorry to go on a tangent. Just felt I needed to explain my train of thought.
not necessarily. there’s regular living soil then there’s soil less mixes like coir/ perlite. they feed with all chemical ferts. there’s no compost or anything else. the chemicals are what feeds the plants. the medium just holds the ferts. in the root zones. its very easy to throw ph off or burn the roots if you dont know what your doing.
I thought the effects of molasses were well known. Aside from being a very very old fertilizing choice my grandparents occasionally used numerous studies and research into use of waste that includes molasses such as sugar beet extraction has looked at the impact of the molasses content. It was also one of the questions raised when EM-1 bacteria innoculant first started being used of whether it was the bacteria mix or the fermented molasses it’s grown in that was improving plant growth and yield since molasses is well known to boost growth. How much it helps increase plant uptake of various nutrients seems to vary greatly by the plant and the soil it’s being added to. In some cases it has only shown to improve microbial activity but not the level of testable nutrients in the plants compared to controls. In others it has resulted in increases of varying nutrients and a variety of other possible benefits that depended on the conditions being used and tested.
I went looking for molasses at a feed store and they actually had none. No giant containers of cheap, feed grade molasses. We used tons of it on the farm for livestock and other purposes but the only use it seems to typically see today is attracting and/or feeding up deer to shoot later in the year. The only molasses containers had all sorts of supplements for antler growth added.
The problem with molasses is usually that it’s not that useful for supporting ongoing growth and people apply too much at once. Lots of people have gotten rapid growth out of plants by adding plenty of molasses only to have them promptly suffer problems or in the case of smaller garden plants die when the molasses is used up. It needs either good supporting soil and used in low quantities or a slower releasing fertilizer source with it. Part of the reason why sugar beet waste and not just the extra molasses separated from it is considered a good soil amendment or crop fertilizer is the plant material that is left to keep breaking down after the molasses in it is used up. It adds organic material and replenishes the humus layer in top soil instead of only an immediate, temporary boost or fertilizers that add nothing to the soil structure and don’t support beneficial micro organisms.
Beet pulp shreds have been working quite well in our clay heavy, compacted, initially anaerobic soil. Along with some rock dust and other additives the sour smell was gone within a few months. I don’t know how many pounds of beet pulp shreds I’ve used improving the soil throughout our little in town property, especially where not even grass was surviving well, and mixing heavier concentrations into areas I am adding new plants. The garden/landscaping store options here are pathetic and no one would let me get a load of manure, compost, or top soil without an open truck bed or trailer to dump directly into and we are too far from a major city for most to deliver materials without a high cost. The first year after moving I only had small, nearby feed suppliers willing to load into our expedition suv or deliver to our house themselves to source soil amendments from.
alfalfa pellets is another one thats a great long term organic fertilizer and soil improver. 50lb. bags can be had for $16 at T.S.C. besides top dressing around plants in can be used to make compost tea or added to woodchips, straw and such to make compost. molasses it also great to speed up a compost pile.
Great information thanks for sharing. I just use store brought organic unsulphured blackstrap molasses for spraying home orchard recipe. However, there is a store named Concentrates Inc. in Portland, OR who carry a gallon bucket for $18.
