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| Hi everyone I have a quick question. I was making an aerated compost tea for my vegetable garden and didn't have molasses. However, I read somewhere u can use table sugar so I put 4 cups earthworm castings and 1/3 cup table sugar with 5 gallons of water. It doesn't seem to be working because there's no froth tonight after about 40 hours (all the stuff is settling to te bottom....) but it's been cold outside. If it doesn't smell bad, I don't want to waste it because I am sure there is some nutrients in it anyways. Is it okay to pour around my plants anyways?
Ps the ants seem to like it.... |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by sweetquietplace none (My Page) on Mon, Jun 4, 12 at 2:21
| When I think of it, I sprinkle a heaping tablespoon of sugar around the base of my tomato plants. It may be just my imagination, but it seems to give them a boost. |
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| That small amount will do no harm but on the whole sugar does not usually work with living plants like it does with cut flowers. Use it and get some molasses. |
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| The risk of losing what good the worm castings can do far outweigh the 1/3rd cup sugar addition to 5 gallons of water even if all the bacteria in there didn't use it all up multiplying themselves. The table sugar wont feed the natural bacteria as well as molasses or glucose (usually only used commercially), but if you're putting it into the soil that amount of sugar won't effect anything negatively with that much water diluting it. |
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| Thanks everyone! I ended up using maybe 2 gallons of the liquid, along with the worm castings that were in the sock by spreading it around my plants, and dumping the rest in case (some of it on the lawn) (before the replies)... I wanted to start trying a new tea with the bucket, so I could water tomorrow (it only takes 24 hrs?). This is good to know for the future though thank you! :) |
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