RobG7aChattTN

I think what you are trying to do is grow the "good" bacteria to feed soil microorganisms. The bacteria comes from the compost and the food to grow them is the molasses. The volume of compost doesn't factor in all that much since the growth rate is exponential and probably the difference between using a gallon vs. 5 is not a big deal. Temperature is probably a bigger factor for increasing speed. I think I read 85F is best. Too cold and they don't multiply, too hot and it kills them. You need lots of oxygen to keep the number of aerobic bacteria (good bacteria in this instance) from being outnumbered by the anaerobic bacteria (the ones that will make your mix smell like an outhouse and are not beneficial for your plants). I've heard that you need to thin the mix to keep it from burning plants, but I don't know if that is correct. You need to use the mix before the bacteria eat up all the molasses but extra (left over) molasses will feed the bacteria after the mix is poured on the plants or it will feed the bacteria that are in the soil. You should be able to use a bit of the mix from one batch to start the next batch, but it can "go bad" (the wrong bacteria grows more than the good). In that case, your mix is no good. Most people seem to like to start with a fresh batch of mulch each time because the good to bad ratio of bacteria is more likely to be favorable in a natural setting like a mulch/compost pile or worm bed.