by johnah on November 22, 2020
Molasses is one of the most popular ingredients used in gardening. It’s very easy to grow and it provides a great source of nutrients for your plants. However, there are some things that you need to know before you start feeding your plants with molasses.
The first thing you need to do is make sure that your soil doesn’t have any heavy metals or other toxins in it. If so, then adding molasses will not work well at all! You might want to consider buying organic soil instead.
Secondly, you need to check if your plant needs extra nutrients from other sources besides molasses. For example, you could add Epsom salts (or any other type of salt) directly into the soil instead of adding molasses. Then again, you may still want to keep some molasses around just in case your plants don’t get enough nutrients from their regular food source like leaves or compost.
Thirdly, you’ll need to check if your plants are getting enough light. Some types of plants require a lot of sunlight while others like herbs and vegetables can thrive without much direct sun exposure. So, you need to decide which type of plant you’re going to feed and whether or not they prefer bright sunshine or indirect sunlight.
Finally, you’ll need to check if your plants are happy with the amount of water that they receive from their regular food source. A lot of plants thrive in “thirsty” environments so it’s okay to give them water every now and then.
Decide if you’re going to use molasses as a primary food source or as a supplement.
A lot of plants can thrive by just being watered with pure water every once in awhile. Other types of plants require soil to be damp all the time. And then, there are other types of plants that do well with a combination of both.
Now, if you’re going to use molasses as a supplement then you’ll want to make sure that you’re watering your plants on a regular basis. So, keep an eye on the color of the soil. You don’t want it to dry out completely in between waterings but you also don’t want it to stay soggy either.
When it comes to watering your plants with molasses you need to dilute it first by mixing it with water. For every cup of water you add five tablespoons of molasses. Stir the solution well and then pour it over the soil. You don’t want to add too much molasses at one time because it can actually prevent plants from growing!
It’s important that you only water your plants with this solution once a week maximum. Overwatering is bad for plants in general but it’s even worse when you’re using molasses as a supplement. Give it a few weeks and you’ll start seeing that the leaves on your plant start turning yellow. This is a sign that you’re feeding it too much molasses.
So, how do you fix this?
You can either stop watering your plants with the molasses altogether or you can start watering with just water. You need to get the nutrients out of the soil and back into the plant itself. The best way to do this is to give your plants a nice long bath. Just make sure that the water you use is clean.
As for the molasses that’s built up in the soil, you can either put a bunch of your plants in a big bucket and just let them sit in there overnight. The molasses will get sucked back into the soil as the plant drinks up the water you give it.
If you don’t want to go through all that work then you can always throw away your soil and get a new one. Just make sure it’s organic!
Time to harvest your plants and get them ready for the market! You can do this in a few different ways.
First, you can always just pick the leaves off your healthy plant whenever you need some greens to sell. This is a good option because it doesn’t kill the plant and you can keep on doing this until it dies naturally. When this happens, you can just use the seeds and grow a whole new batch!
If you don’t feel like picking off the leaves yourself then you can just cut the entire stem off the plant itself. The downside to this is that it does kill the plant so you won’t be able to grow any more of that type of plant. However, if you’re growing a lot of these plants then it might be worth it for you. Just make sure you get all of the stems so you get all of the nutrients out of them!
The last and arguably best way to harvest your greens is by drying them out. This preserves their color and flavor so that they last much longer than they would if you just chopped them off or picked them.
To prepare your plants for drying, all you need to do is carefully cut the stems off the roots and then string them together by their stems. You can then hang these up in a dry, dark place until they’re completely dry. Use a needle to poke a hole in the bottom of each stem so that they don’t rot as quickly.
Once they’re dry you can put them in paper bags until you need them. They take up a lot less room this way and they should stay good for a few months at least!
There you have it, folks! Now you know how to grow and prepare your very own healthy greens for market! Just remember to be careful with what you’re doing because many of these plants are still considered illegal.
Most of all, have fun growing and if you get a chance try some yourself!
Once again I’m Billy Bamboo with your gardening report!
–Billy Bamboo(Bamboo World News)
John Rogue checked the large black watch on his hairy, scabbed wrist. It was about time to wake up his two fellow workers. The three mutants had found an old sewer pipe that led to a large underground cave. It was just their luck that this cave was once used as a grotto and—even more coincidentally—still had working lights.
It was the perfect spot to set up house.
John slowly nudged awake the first of his two partners. It was hard to tell due to ratty hair and an even rattier beard, but John thought he saw a smile on his friend’s face as his eyes opened and adjusted to the light. John could never see his smile due to the bandanna wrapped around his lower face, but he knew it was there. The other reason he knew his friend was smiling was due to the classic .44 revolver John carried in his hand.
“Rise and shine, Hank. We got work to do.”
The second mutant awoke with a start. It was the bandage around his head that gave it away. The other reason was due to the Uzi he held in his hand.
“
Are we going out?”
he asked groggily as he checked his weapon.
John gestured upward with his revolver.
“No, we got folks comin’ in.”
Hank and Long Hair looked at each other before giving shrugs. John didn’t blame them. He barely knew these guys themselves. He picked up one of the lanterns and stepped outside the sewer grate.
The concrete wall reminded him of an old horror film involving a crazed, deformed war veteran who lived in a mansion with his sister. John loved that movie as a kid; it was his favorite past time to scare his little sister by sneaking into her room while wearing a hockey mask. It wasn’t until years later that he learned it was based on a true story. The “hillbilly” as John called him had been a real person.
The idea that something you see in a movie could be real had always seemed surreal to John. That was part of what drew him into the horror genre.
The sun hadn’t come up yet, but the sky was already a gray haze. A cool wind swept by, making John shiver as he lit the lantern and hung it on a pole protruding from the concrete wall. He turned to his friends.
“Alright boys, we wait.”
They waited in silence for a few moments before Hank suddenly spoke up.
“
So, John, what’s the plan once we get these folks back?”
he asked, scratching at his thick beard.
John thought for a moment. They needed more workers and their current group was small. They couldn’t exactly go knocking on people’s doors though. Or, at least, they couldn’t knock on doors for long.
“Once we get these folks back we’re gonna go lookin’ for more,” he said. “But we need to lay low after that. The Zealots have been prowlin’ around here more often.”
Hank and the other mutant—John still didn’t know his name—nodded. They went back to waiting in silence.
The sun rose above the horizon, coloring the sky red and orange. John began to feel anxious. He knew the couple could take their time coming here, but the waiting still made him antsy.
“Maybe we should go check on the others,” John suggested. “Make sure they haven’t been ambushed or nothin’.”
“
Are you loco?”
Hank said in disgust. “We stay right here.”
John shrugged and went back to waiting. He continued to do so until the couple finally showed up. They came strolling out of the shadows with satisfied smiles on their faces. The man had a twinkle in his eye while the woman seemed a bit embarrassed.
It was obvious what they had been doing and Hank and Long Hair didn’t waste any time letting them know what they thought of that.
“Shut yer filthy mouth!” Hank barked.
“Don’t listen to him,” John interjected. “You two just focus on gettin’ back to the silo. We’ll take it from there.”
He gave them a little grin and a wink for good measure and they quickly set off without another word. John watched them for a moment to make sure they weren’t being followed before opening the manhole. He gestured for the other two to go down first.
“After you,” he said with a sweep of his arm.
They obliged and clambered down the ladder. John went next and finally Hank made his way down. They closed the manhole above them and set off towards the silo. It was a few miles away but it didn’t take long to get there as it was in the open fields rather than a neighborhood.
They walked along the dirt roads, trying to look as much like typical travelers as possible.
They were close now and John couldn’t help but feel nervous.
What if they didn’t accept him? What if they still hated him?
He had to force himself not to break into a sweat as he walked along.
Maybe they won’t even want to join, he thought. There was no guarantee that the couple would want to join them. From what John knew, they had been happy living away from the city and that was what had drawn John to them in the first place. They might not want the extra hassle that came with fighting the Church.
Do I even have a right to try and convince them?
he wondered. He tried to put himself in their shoes.
If he had been safe and secure away from the city, would he go back to fighting?
The answer wasn’t immediately obvious to him.
He wanted to fight, but was it worth the risk to himself and his family?
He pushed the thought out of his head. He could deal with that problem if and when it came up. Right now, he needed to focus on the mission.
There were no guards out here which surprised him, but then the silo was supposed to be un-attackable so maybe the Church was confident enough that they didn’t need to post a guard. John wouldn’t count on it though. He felt like Kane would have some hidden guards patrolling the area just to be safe. He’d probably want to get the jump on anyone coming to attack the silo too.
John stopped the group before they got within sight of the silo and had the couple go ahead of them. He didn’t know how good his friends eyesight was in the dark, but he didn’t want to take any chances. The couple slowly went ahead, keeping their pace slow and casual. So far, it seemed to be working as the three men didn’t say anything.
After a few moments, the couple made it to the silo and entered without incident. John approached slowly with his hands visible.
“It’s me,” he called out quietly.
He heard some whispering from inside and then the sliding door opened a bit. A hand popped out and waved him in. He motioned for his two friends to stay put and then approached slowly. As he got closer, the door opened more and he walked inside.
It slid shut behind him and he saw that the couple were looking at him with suspicion.
“They’re out there,” John said, not wanting them to think he’d brought an army to take them prisoner or something.
The man nodded and went over to the door while the woman came over to John.
“We thought you were dead,” she said, giving him a hug.
“I almost was a few times,” John replied with a smile. “It’s good to see you guys.”
“
How did you escape?”
the man asked, coming over with a rifle in his hands.
“It’s a long story,” John said. “
You wouldn’t happen to have anything to eat would you?
We’ve been on the road for a while and I’m starved.”
The man nodded and went over to a cabinet, taking out several cans of food and putting them on the table.
“Here,” he said. “Eat. We have plenty and I can open up the rest of the cabinets, but let me wake my wife so she doesn’t get scared by three strangers walking around in the dark.”
“Sure,” John said, eagerly opening a can of food and digging in.
The man woke his wife and she came out to join them, looking wary.
Sources & references used in this article:
Anaerobic co-digestion of desugared molasses with cow manure; focusing on sodium and potassium inhibition by C Fang, K Boe, I Angelidaki – Bioresource technology, 2011 – Elsevier
Preparation of fertilizer and animal feed from molasses fermentation residue by HH Bass – US Patent 3,983,255, 1976 – Google Patents
Boosting biogas yield of anaerobic digesters by utilizing concentrated molasses from 2nd generation bioethanol plant by S Sarker, HB Møller – International journal of energy and …, 2013 – ijee.ieefoundation.org
Water footprints of cassava-and molasses-based ethanol production in Thailand by A Mangmeechai, P Pavasant – Natural resources research, 2013 – Springer
Regulating feeding and increasing methane yield from co-digestion of C5 molasses and cattle manure by S Sarker, HB Møller – Energy conversion and management, 2014 – Elsevier
… and transformation of zinc in a mollisol and its uptake by plants in a rice–wheat rotation fertilized with either zinc-enriched biosludge from molasses or with inorganic … by PC Srivastava, AP Singh, S Kumar… – Biology and Fertility of …, 2008 – Springer
Utilization of urea and growth of heifer calves with corn molasses or cane molasses as the only readily available carbohydrate in the ration. by RC Mills, CC Lardhtois, IW Rupel, EB Hart – Journal of Dairy Science, 1944 – cabdirect.org
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