This came in the August edition of the Shades of Green newsletter my dad sent me. (Shades of Green is in San Antonio.)
"...there is a simple, safe solution to [nutsedge]. Mix 1/2 C of molasses with one gallon of water and use this mixture to water the nutsedge thoroughly. Repeat the application two weeks later. Within a month you will notice that the nutsedge is gone. So long as you don't use more than 1/2 C of molasses per gallon, this mixture will not harm existing grass, shrubs, or flowers. It truly is an easy solution to a problem that baffles many gardeners."
I'm definitely going to give it a try!!
Getting Rid of Nutsedge/Nutgrass
If this works, I am going to bow down to you and your dad!
I figure anything's worth a try! LOL
That would be a wonderful solution, we have nutsedge at the wildscape that we have to scuffle hoe every week and it is back breaking work, we will surely try it.
Thank you very much.
Josephine.
bowing down all the way from florida!
Is this horticultural molasses or regular molasses you're supposed to use? I have some of both, just want to make sure and use the right thing. If this works, we'll all be bowing!
Crow
Horticultural liquid molasses would be my guess.
This message was edited Aug 8, 2009 10:50 PM
Thanks, Stephanie. I'm going to try it on my iris beds.
Crow
Crow, be careful about trying it on the Iris beds, if it kills nutsedge it could kill Iris too.
Try a spot where there are no Iris first and go from there.
Josephine.
stephanietx, You just reminded me, I was just listening to the radio Saturday morning. There was this fellow on, I think his name was the Dirt Doctor, who was touting dried molasses, which can be aquired at any feed or farm supply store, for just this purpose. I wasn't listening as closely as I should as I was fixing breakfast at the time. I thought I might be able to find this fellow's website and see if I could get more info. I'm pretty sure he was broadcasting out of Dallas.
If anyone else listens to this broadcast they may have better info than I do.
Why thank you very much, trackinsand!
you're welcome.
i put down dry molasses a couple of years ago as suggested by the dirt doctor for getting rid of fire ants. you'd think it would attract them but it did do a pretty good job of repelling them...not perfect, but when you're talking nutsedge and fire ants, well, nothin's perfect! lol
Dry molasses is a slow release fertilizer and ant killer. For this application, you want to use liquid molasses.
got it!
Me too!
FYI, fire ants HATE anything sweet...like dried molasses. I have been killing mounds here at Lake Brownwood by mixing 2 litres of flat Coke (we seem to have that all the time) with about 2 ounces of orange oil. Instant death! Of course, it kills the grass too, but I am desperate.
Ok forgive my stupidity but is nutsedge that horrible grass that pops up everywhere. I dug down deep to find each little plant has a small bulb. That is the only weed I have trouble with. I must say however that it is always a nice deep green lol.
Cheryl
Yes, what you describe sure sounds like nutsedge or what we always called nut grass. Here's photo in plant files:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/83540/
Has anyone tried the molasses yet? I sprayed about $75 worth of SedgeHammer yesterday on nutgrass that has taken over our back yard - it comes up in days here (I hate it) - and I'm hoping the SH will kill it. The molasses (can you get it at Earl May) and water sounds a whole lot less expensive. Any other ideas of ways to kill the stuff? I hear even pulling it up doesn't do any good long term.... grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
my sister in st.louis uses sedgehammer and she says it works really well. she's destroying it all, section by section. i haven't used the molasses yet. probably won't until next spring at the rate i'm moving.......
I was getting ready to spray with Image this morning and in reading the instructions, it said not to use on beds where annuals may be planted the next growing season because damage may occur.
Now I don't know whether I should use it in flower beds or not. Maybe I should try the molasses treatment instead and take the $21 bottle of Image back for refund.
Re: fire ants - Years ago we had a sick tree and mixed up what the Dirt Doctor calls sick tree treatment, which contains, among other things, powdered molasses. It was too late to save the sick tree but we noticed such an amazing difference in our St. Augustine grass where it was applied, so we used that same mixture for several years as fertilizer. Got busy and didn't apply it for the last 3 years and we have been inundated with fire ants. Cannot walk in the grass wearing flipflops without getting bitten by ants. After the conversation on this thread, the thought occurred to me that we didn't have fire ants in the lawn back when we used the sick tree mixture as fertilizer. Starting this week, I'm spreading powdered molasses around the yard. Will let you know how it works out.
Happy Gardening,
Glenna
The Dirt Doctor site that's listed above gave this explanation of why the molasses works: the molasses overstimulates & rots the nut grass. The weaker grasses & weeds can't handle fertile lawns. The thing is, there is a lot of discussion on the site about this remedy, but everybody seems to be posting asking if someone else has tried it. There are no personal anecdotes of it working, just a lot of comments about "Well, I heard..." LOL!
If you actually tried the molasses and it really worked, please let us know! =)
One thing about posting on the Texas Gardening site (I grew up in Houston) is that it makes me thankful to not be fighting fire ants any longer. I do miss St. Augustine grass though - this fescue here is hard to maintain and it doesn't spread like SA does. (And I miss Luby's and good Mexican food too.) :^)