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PostPosted: Tue Jan 18, 2005 9:41 am 
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I just stumbled onto the post "Dry Molassas" (Oct. 2, 2004) and I'm curious why Howard has not responded to "Soil Secrets" attack on the molassas issue----I just purchased 3 bags of the stuff at $16.55 ea. (yeah, I got ripped off) because I heard Howard last Saturday say "Now it's time to put out dry molassas" and I would very much like to hear from him about this.

This man "Soil Secrets" seems to know what he's talking about and seems to have the credentials and professional people at his disposal to back up what he says.

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PostPosted: Tue Jan 18, 2005 10:13 am 
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I wondered the same thing. Thanks for bringing this up again.

For those that missed his comments:
Quote:
"Our company employees two of the top Microbiologists in the country and we are involved with soil remediation projects all over the world. Farms, super fund sites, rangeland restoration, forest fire soil restoration and more. We have utilized every possible method of propagating, culturing and feeding indigenous soilborne microorganisms including the fungal community. After going through this learning curve for 30 years and with the top P.hD's in the field, we know how to feed the beneficial microbes. It's not with molasses. As a rule, dry molasses is coated onto a crude protein material such as soy or other glutens and it is high quality protein that works for encouraging the microbial community of the soil. But the cheap and easy sugar of the dry molasses will be counter productive to the Competitive Exclusion growth curve of those microbes you want in the soil."

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PostPosted: Fri Jan 21, 2005 12:57 pm 
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If dry molasses is not beneficial, then why is it that so many people have success in using it? I have seen great results and have heard many reports on how well molasses works. I had a caller tell me that he could tell an improvement in the vegetation with as little as 1 gallon of liquid molasses mixed with water and sprayed over an acre.


This is in reference to the following post:
http://www.dirtdoctor.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4506

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PostPosted: Fri Jan 21, 2005 1:17 pm 
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I'm not saying that molasses isn't beneficial. I would just like to hear Howard or someone else with credentials discuss the issue of counter productivity. I think the idea here with this forum is to go a little further than just saying "I know it works."
I use molasses myself and have spent a good amount of money spreading the stuff around... but what if it is "counter productive" to the soil? Miracle Grow-type products appear to work... for a while... and then you have a counter productive situation.

People swear by all kinds of things that "work" for them. Like using bois'darc apples to get rid of ants. I hear that it works but can we ask why? It might give clues to how to solve other problems.

BTW, Nadine, I believe that dry molasses and the liquid molasses you mentioned are two different things. Dry molasses is inferior to the liquid stuff.

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PostPosted: Fri Jan 21, 2005 5:31 pm 
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Kentobrew, dry molasses is not necessarily inferior to liquid. You need to compare apples to apples. One needs to look at the ease of applying product, the total sugars of product (they vary) & the benefit the carrier of the dry might have. The liquid might be cheaper in the long run if you shop by cost per sq. ft.

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PostPosted: Fri Jan 21, 2005 9:44 pm 
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KHWOZ,
Actually, it is inferior. Liquid molasses is 45% molasses, while dry molasses is 0% molasses. It really shouldn't be called molasses at all. True molasses is a much better choice than dry.

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PostPosted: Sat Jan 22, 2005 8:28 am 
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Kentobrew, don't want to start an argument but the last bag of dried molasses product I bought listed molasses as an ingredient and showed the percentage. Could you explain your statements further? My understanding is that liquid molasses is sprayed onto a carrier, dried & sold as dry/dried molasses.

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PostPosted: Sat Jan 22, 2005 11:53 am 
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Maybe there are different types of dry molasses out there. I'm referring to a feed product that has crossed over for use as an organic soil treatment. If there is another dry molasses other than for feed, I'm not aware of it. A quick search of Google turned up this nutritional analysis from Oklahoma State U:

http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/research/2001rr/20/20.htm

Dry Molasses = Soybean meal, % 61.0 and Cottonseed meal, % 39.0. Whereas the liquid molasses shows to be 44.8% molasses and the rest is various salts, trace minerals, etc.

I'm assuming that the amount of molasses that is sprayed on the dry stuff is just enough for the cattle to like the taste, but not enough to show up on the percentages. I could be wrong about this, but maybe we are straying off of the original topic.

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PostPosted: Fri Jan 28, 2005 3:44 am 
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We are a bit off the original question but I found this ingredient list off of a bag of dried molasses I bought last year. The brand is Ragland Dried Molasses.

Protein 4% (min)
Fat .1% (min)
Fiber 24% (max)
Sugars 38% (min)
Moisture 6% (max)
The contents are cane molasses & beet molasses with the carrier identified as roughage.

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PostPosted: Fri Jan 28, 2005 4:06 am 
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Moral of the story... I guess you really need to read the bag before you buy. Some are better than others. Thanks for the info.

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 Post subject: feb 11?
PostPosted: Fri Jan 28, 2005 3:20 pm 
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just not clear on dates of postes. i thought today was 1/28/05 & the post is 2/11/05. what gives?


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PostPosted: Sat Jan 29, 2005 8:51 am 
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Sorry for the delay in responding. I'm open, as always, to hearing more details about the negative effects of dry molasses. I haven't seen any. I am curious what kentobrew recommends instead. Sounds like he is in the business in some way.


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PostPosted: Sat Jan 29, 2005 9:04 pm 
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Well, I will say that I heard the "doc" at least mention this very topic on his radio show today (1/29/05). I was on my way to purchase some "dried molasses". Howard didn't say much except that he would be looking into the topic and keeping an eye out to see what was posted on this community board.

The bag I purchased was manufactured by Sweetlix, Inc. in Salt Lake City, Utah. I purchased it from Johnson County Feedes Supply, Inc. in Cleburne, TX. The product name is " Sweetlix Livestock Supplement System, Sweet Cane Dried Molasses.

It does have an ingredients list as: Molasses Products, and Roughage Products. With a Guaranteed Analysis of:

- Crude Protein (min) 5.00%
- Crude Fat (min) 0.30%
- Crude Fiber (max) 30.00%
- Acid Detergent Fiber (max) 22.00%
- Total Sugars (min) 38.00%
- Moisture (max) 6.00%

I did by a bag from Marshall Grain in Fort Worth last year. Their bag was labeled Kandy Korn and it did not have any ingredients listed.

So, my question is---"Is this the product to be using?" I only use it because Howard highly recommends it. Since this product is not labeled as a fertilizer but as a feed mixture product (the bag does have ratios for mixing with feed for various livestock), how can I be sure that it is not a waste of money. I could be spending my precious dollars on actually fertilzer. I have two acres and would like to use my resources wisely.

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PostPosted: Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:10 am 
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Dirt Doctor wrote:
... I am curious what kentobrew recommends instead. Sounds like he is in the business in some way.


I would recommend dry molasses until someone convinces me otherwise. I was merely seconding the request for Howard's opinion on what "soil secrets" had to say about it (see post above for the original thread). SoilSecrets seems to think that the "cheap" sugars in dry molasses are counter productive in the long run. It appears that he IS "in the business" but since he didn't really promote his product, he seemed like he could be credible. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying he's right. Actually, I hope he's wrong since I've been using dry molasses for several years.

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PostPosted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 3:45 pm 
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I've tried wet molasses many times on turf and on shrubs. I sprayed at the rate of 3 ounces per 1,000 square feet (equivalent to 1 gallon per acre) and saw no benefit. I still have some left in my original quart bottle and I've had a friend give me a gallon because she thought I used it. When she gave me the bottle she asked me to spray at double the rate - still nothing. Then Kathe Kitchens convinced me to try it even stronger. Thus far I have seen nothing happen when I spray it at any concentration from 3 ounces per 1,000 to 12 ounces per 1,000. Well I take that back. I used it once when I was spraying liquid seaweed as a wetting agent. It seemed to help wet the leaves but the next day all my lemons were eaten by the squirrels. So the net effect I've had using molasses is to lose one year's crop of lemons.

I should say that I don't have fire ants but if I did, I would use molasses.

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