Can Molasses Be Used As a Treatment for a Sick Lawn?

Type

• There are several types of molasses in the supermarket but to ensure that you are passing nothing harmful to the earth you need to chose an organic product. Molasses can be found sulfured or unsulfured. Sulfured molasses has been treated with sulfur dioxide during extraction. For lawn tonics and as a fungicide it is best to use unsulfured black strap molasses. Black strap results from the third boiling of sugar and contains higher levels of iron, one of the important nutrients in soil which, in deficiency, causes chlorosis. You can find horticultural molasses at garden centers in liquid or concentrate.

Fungicide and Sulfured Molasses

• Purchasing sulfured molasses is important if you are treating the lawn soil for fungus. The sulfur acts as a fungicide and kills off the spores in the sod. The molasses is applied as a soil drench for fungal control. Two teaspoons per gallon of water or 40 lbs. of dry molasses for a 2,500 square foot lawn. Sulfur fungicides are popular products used on plants with powdery mildew and other fungal mildew problems.

Feed the Microbes

• Bacteria are often the bad guys, but in soil there is a constant presence of both bad and good bacteria. Bacteria in the form of beneficial microbes help feed turf by assisting with the uptake of nutrients and conditioning the soil. Molasses is just a processed sugar that provides carbohydrates for the beneficial microbes to feed on. As the microbes increase, soil fertility goes up and the availability of nutrients expands. Two applications per year of a diluted molasses spray enhances the bacterial activity in soil to increase turf health. The spray will help fix sun damaged areas, pet holes and numerous other lawn health problems.

Acts as a Mineral Chelate

• Molasses generally increases the health of the lawn so it can fight off bacterial anti-fungal diseases. Molasses adds potash, sulfur and other micro-nutrients to the soil. Minerals are stored as molecules in soil and require a method of breaking them down so they can be used. This is chelating and molasses assists in this break down. Plants need macro-nutrients and micro-nutrients as well as sun and water to remain healthy. When the plant can't uptake adequate minerals it will decline. Molasses unlocks the mineral wealth in soil so the grass can use the nutrients.