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Mission Viejo, CA

So I found my way down to the farm store and picked up a 5 gallon bucket of Molasses. Seemed cheap enough, forget about the fact that I only have the one plant and it will take 4 years to use 5 gallons of this stuff. :D

Got home, popped it open and remembered reading about getting sulphur free molasses and so checked the ingredients. About 4 items in I see 'sulphuric acid', which I assume is the same as sulphur.

Crap. I am thinking toss it.

So I was talking with my pal Chris Dunn and he says he's got the same jug and has been using it up on his cover crop. He uses the 'good stuff' on the 'kins. Seems reasonable enough, but I asked him if the sulphur stays behind in the soil, or does it leach out or get absorbed by the cover crop?

Thanks for whatever guidance you guys have. I would rather throw it away than screw up my soil.

5/23/2013 11:17:49 AM

Torrance, Ca.

Good question Kevin!

5/23/2013 3:24:15 PM

Corvallis, OR

Should be fine.

Sulfur is a plant essential nutrient, and is taken up in the SO4 form which is present in your molasses.

Sulfuric acid is added to molasses to lower pH and solubilize iron and manganese, which are also plant essential nutrients.

I doubt there's enough sulfuric acid in there to do much soil acidification, if you can eat it without burning your teeth off.

5/23/2013 6:07:00 PM

Paradise Mountain, New York

Been using the same stuff for years and never had a problem with Farm grade molasses.

5/23/2013 7:30:26 PM

Seattle, WA

As I understand it, the sulfur is added as a preservative. That means it is there to kill microbes. For making compost tea, it would be important to use unsulfured blackstrap molasses, but for a straight foliar or soil application, there's enough microbial activity and organic matter that I wouldn't be overly concerned.

The feed grade molasses that we sell in our store is unsulfured in the sense that it has never had the sulfuric acid added and then removed, and runs around $14 for a 3.5 gal bucket, to give you a price comparison wherever you are in the country. I have found that it can mold over time if exposed to air or poor storage conditions.

5/26/2013 2:03:33 PM

Torrance, Ca.

Thanks Tad.

5/26/2013 4:44:11 PM