Will Molasses Kill Insects? – Green Garden Tribe

There are many natural remedies you can use to deal with insects in your garden. Various gardeners say molasses is one of them. Can you use molasses as an insecticide? Use a molasses spray to keep bugs off your plants. Insects cannot bloat or release gas. This creates quite an explosive situation. As un-fortunately for the insects, sugars create gas, and it basically kills the insects from the inside out. When Molasses is sprayed onto your plants’ leaves, the smell attracts the insects. Then the molasses spray effectively kills them. Once the plant leaves are sprayed, they immediately ingest the content of the mist. This poisons and kills the insects when they try to eat the leaves. Yes, Molasses Kill Insects. Will Molasses Kill Insects? Can you use molasses as an insecticide? Yes, you can. Dissolve one tablespoon of molasses in one litre of warm water and add a teaspoon of liquid soap. Spray both upper and lower surfaces of the leaves While no official studies can support this claim, gardeners say that molasses effectively kill insects such as aphids, lace bugs, and whiteflies. There are also claims that molasses mixed with water can drive away root-knot nematodes and fire ants. Plants with High Sugar Content Deter Insects Sugar boosts the power of your plants and, at the same time, stops bugs. Insects can only tolerate a small amount of sugar content. When you spray molasses directly on plants, it is directly absorbed by the plant. Adding molasses to your plant raises its sugar content. Insects will take a small bite of your plant and move on. Molasses Keeps Pathogens away from the Soil Pathogens can harm your plants. Spraying molasses on your plants allows it to work as an insecticide because it can remove lace bugs, aphids, whiteflies, and all sucking insects. Swallowing Molasses is Harmful to Insects When you spray molasses mixture onto your plants, insects will tend to ingest it directly. Only bees and sugar ants can tolerate the most straightforward sugars. Insects cannot expel gas build-up from fermenting sugar in their gut. Their exoskeletons also cannot get bloated. In short, insects cannot digest the sugar content on the leaf when it is covered with molasses. They are drawn to it like a drug, and they cannot resist it. However, the bacteria will produce gasses and will expand in the digestive tract of insects. Death, therefore, is inevitable. This build-up will pressure their digestive system and rupture it. When this happens, the insect will die. Molasses can Ferment into Alcohol The sugar in molasses ferment into alcohol and will kill insects. Molasses Causes Microbial Explosion Molasses causes the Soil to have a microbial explosion. A microbial explosion attacks the eggs and larval stages of insects cause them to die. How to Use Molasses to Kill Insects Here are a few solutions you can create so you can use molasses as an insecticide: • Dissolve 1 to 2 tablespoons of molasses in one liter of warm water. Add in one teaspoon of liquid soap. • Pour the solution into a spray bottle. Shake the spray bottle well. Spray the mixture on the lower and upper surfaces of the leaves. • This molasses solution works well in containing caterpillars and insects. • Dissolve one liter of molasses in four liters of warm water. Allow it to cool. Drench the Soil with this mixture, and it will kill nematodes that are attacking your plants. • Nematodes are tiny and multi-cellular insects that feed on plant roots. They are stunt and kill plants. • Be careful when using this molasses mixture. While it can kill nematodes and save your plant, it can also kill some of the beneficial insects in the Soil. • Regard this molasses mixture as the last resort and do not use it for long term purposes. • Build a molasses trap. Fill a jar half-full with molasses. Place the jar in your garden. • Insects will get attracted to the molasses because of its sweet smell. The insects will then fall in and die. Molasses is a by-product of sugar. It is produced during the manufacture of sugar from sugarcane or sugar beets. How to Extract Molasses from Sugarcane Sugar is extracted from sugarcane or sugar beets. Molasses is the material left after the sugar has been removed and processed from sugarcane. Molasses is a black sticky material that is somewhat a waste material of sugarcane that has good use. When producing sugar, sugarcane is crushed to extract its juice. The juice is boiled until it becomes sugar crystals. Sugar crystals are further processed to extract sugar and molasses is the remaining liquid. There are many types or grades of molasses: First Molasses / Light Molasses. This is the syrup formed after the first boiling to produce sugar crystals. It comes with the sweetest taste and the lightest color. This type of Molasses is typically used in baking. Dark Molasses. This is Molasses produced after the second boiling. It is less sweet but darker and thicker. It can be used for baking, but it gives food a distinct flavor and color. Blackstrap Molasses. This is produced after the third boiling. This Molasses is the darkest and thickest. It comes with a bitter taste, too. Other than sugar, Molasses contains vitamins, carbohydrates, iron, and calcium. Final Thoughts Molasses is the cheapest way to increase the sugar content of plants and get rid of harmful insects in your vegetable plants and garden. Molasses as an insecticide works well in controlling pests that attack your plants and Soil. Molasses attacks insects and pests when they try to cycle in the Soil and when they feed on your plants. If you are on a tight budget, Molasses as an insecticide is the answer to your problems with insects and pests in your garden. You’ve all heard the adage – you kill more flies with honey than with vinegar – and now you can see that this version of it works – only too well !!! Jenny Marie Tribal Writer Edited By Patricia Godwin