annastasia76
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can molasses be substituted??

I don't have any molasses in the cupboards, is there anything else that can be used?? I have plenty of honey. If not I will wait until I can get to the store next week.

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soil
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for what purpose?

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!potatoes!
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in compost itself? some kind of aerated compost tea?

annastasia76
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I'm sorry it's for a non aerated compost tea

toxcrusadr
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I'm not a compost tea expert, but molasses is mostly sugar, so I would think sugar or corn syrup would be a good substitute. Or leftover soda pop, if you ever have that around - it has not only sugar but phosphorus.

DoubleDogFarm
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I've been using beer extract as my Carbs.

Eric
Last edited by DoubleDogFarm on Fri Mar 18, 2011 3:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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soil
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if your making non aerated compost tea, then just plop some compost in water for 24 hours, stir if you happen to walk by and apply it. no need to complicate things.

toxcrusadr
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I myself would probably not put usable food products in the compost. Just a philosophy, but to me it's a way to turn *waste* into soil nutrition. The idea of buying food just to put it in there seems like it leaves too big of an environmental footprint. Just my opinion, YMMV.

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rainbowgardener
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The OP's question was in response to this thread:

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=187302&highlight=molasses#187302

(might have made more sense to people if you had just added the question to the on-going thread instead of starting a new one.)

It was never about putting molasses in the compost pile. OP asked about doing non-aerated compost tea. I described my compost infusion using molasses, compost and water. As I said on that thread, yes you can do it without the molasses, but I believe for the same reason that the ACT folks add molasses (or equivalents) to their brews, adding the sugar to feed the microbe culture, helps get it going. Then it can continue in the soil.

And yes, you can substitute honey, sugar, etc

I use molasses because that's what all the AACT folks usually use. Here's something from our gigantic AACT thread:

other sugars like brown sugar can be added but molasses is recommended and has been the secret to many bottled organic fertilizers for years.

You see molasses isn’t just a sugar/carbohydrate, it contains a nice amount of potash, sulfur and a variety of micronutrients.
This is the main idea of adding molasses because a balance supply of mineral nutrients is essential for microorganisms to survive and thrive. Micronutrients found in organic amendments like molasses, kelp, buckwheat, comfrey and alfalfa are all derived from other plants and ther for quickly and easily available to our soil organisms and our plants. The micro herd in our tea’s/soil depend on tiny amounts of trace minerals as catalysts to help break down organic fertilizers to a form our plants can use.
Molasses also works as a chelate, chelates (like humic acid), are known for unlocking chemical nutrients into a form that is easily available for soil critters and plants. It is also said that chelated minerals also help gardeners make dramatic cuts in fertilizer application, by locking minerals in availed forms and preventing soil unbalances.
https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17097&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=60

toxcrusadr
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Thanks rainbow, when I said "into the compost" that was shorthand, I knew it was about tea. I also thought about all the other stuff in molasses, and almost put in something about that, but I'm not versed enough in compost tea to know the details on that.

annastasia76
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I'm sorry I should have posted in the same thread. I did get some compost tea going today, now I need to figure out how much I need to dilute it before I add it to my plants.

toxcrusadr
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I *think* the goal is to dilute to the approximate appearance of iced tea. Far enough so you can see partly into it. And of course it won't hurt any thing if it's more dilute than that, either.

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rainbowgardener
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Personally, I put the small shovel of compost into the bucket of water and then use it like that, for watering with. If I were going to use it as foliar spray, I would dilute it more. I haven't really done much foliar spraying, but I'm planning to try it this year. But since my compost infusion isn't really brewed like AACT, I figure using a richer mixture maybe makes up for that.



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