Molasses ~ When & Why ?
- Thread starter Wildlifer69
- Start date
ok i went to the super market and saw this other mothers molasses, robust. it has a green label, i saw it was unsulphured so i got it. heres the side by side... this robust molasses has about double everything the regular mothers has.
robust left, regluar right
-=- again, robust left
if you cant see the labels well enough heres the run down...
. robust .... reg
K 220mg 6%...110mg 3%
cal 6% ... 4%
mag 8% ... 2%
iron 8% ... 4%
robust left, regluar right
-=- again, robust left
if you cant see the labels well enough heres the run down...
. robust .... reg
K 220mg 6%...110mg 3%
cal 6% ... 4%
mag 8% ... 2%
iron 8% ... 4%
Nice find.
Blackstrap, made by the same company is a better choice. Brer Rabbit is the blackstrap that BG Foods offers. The sugars are better for the plants, and there are more nutrients in blackstrap.
yea, thats what i always look for, but mothers is all i can find. this robust looks better then the reg.
i found it at shaws BTW
Double Kindness
Member
Don't use grandma's molassas, it's garbage. Use an all organic or black strap molassas, it has more nutrients in it, look at the lables. I like to use about a tablespoon of organic molassas per 4 gals of water/nutes at every feeding in veg and flowering until the last 2 weeks of flower then I take the molassas out of the feeding regimine. I keep a large bottle of molassas in my nutrient or "stuff" bucket along with my other nutes and ph meter etc.
As far as ants, I have found that they don't hang out at the plants or soil etc and there is an ant issue where my location is at. I don't use pesticides in flowering, just ladybugs and I'm pretty sure lady bugs leave ants alone.
It seems that using molassas helps the plants make sugars more redily available during growth (veg) and flowering and the palnts are more potent and swell the bud size.
As far as ants, I have found that they don't hang out at the plants or soil etc and there is an ant issue where my location is at. I don't use pesticides in flowering, just ladybugs and I'm pretty sure lady bugs leave ants alone.
It seems that using molassas helps the plants make sugars more redily available during growth (veg) and flowering and the palnts are more potent and swell the bud size.
thirst4knwledge
Member
good thread
good thread
Just finished reading through, some great info in here that I'm already using on my outdoor grow. I'm pulling in the next 2-3 weeks but I went out to get some organic blackstrap molasses to feed because I've heard that it's great to use even this late in flower and will aid in flush by getting rid of mineral salts. I found it at a whole foods not too far away. Even though wholesome sweetener's was called the "best" earlier, there was that and "plantation" at the store. Plantation was a little cheaper with numbers to match (both organic blackstrap) so I went with it. Sucks to see this thread hasn't been posted on in a while, but will report back with findings regarding this molasses.
good thread
Just finished reading through, some great info in here that I'm already using on my outdoor grow. I'm pulling in the next 2-3 weeks but I went out to get some organic blackstrap molasses to feed because I've heard that it's great to use even this late in flower and will aid in flush by getting rid of mineral salts. I found it at a whole foods not too far away. Even though wholesome sweetener's was called the "best" earlier, there was that and "plantation" at the store. Plantation was a little cheaper with numbers to match (both organic blackstrap) so I went with it. Sucks to see this thread hasn't been posted on in a while, but will report back with findings regarding this molasses.
so for a zillion possts everyone says blackstrap is the best and you decide at the store to get something else
It will be alright but why not get the best
thirst4knwledge
Member
you misread, or maybe you're stoned and didn't get it...but I did buy blackstrap. I bought "organic unsulphured blackstrap molasses", just not the 'wholesome sweeteners" brand that has been suggested by members in this thread and others. I bought plantation brand, still blackstrap...still organic...still unsulphured. Hope that's a little more clear.
-t4k
My bad
glad you got the blackstrap
watch out that it doesn't attract bugs if your using it on an outdoor grow
Hope you have an abundant harvest
just like to throw this out there.
i was using grandmas for 3 years, all good. then one trip to the store this summer i couldn't find any so i picked up the organic unsulphured plantation blackstrap , plants were not happy, def started popping up, im guessing it's because the plantation one had way more cal + mg.
went back to grandmas and have no issues since.
thanks granny!
i was using grandmas for 3 years, all good. then one trip to the store this summer i couldn't find any so i picked up the organic unsulphured plantation blackstrap , plants were not happy, def started popping up, im guessing it's because the plantation one had way more cal + mg.
went back to grandmas and have no issues since.
thanks granny!
thirst4knwledge
Member
yeah like you said, I wasn't going to read through twenty pages of posts and not get the highest grade molasses that everyone said to use. I just got the plantation brand because it was slightly cheaper, and also I hadn't heard of it but the numbers were comparable (actually higher in one or two areas)...so I wanted to try it. Been using it for four days now, on it's own mixed in with my tap (left out for 48 hours so chlorine can evaporate), as well as light liquid organic nutrient mixes (gh organic line, go). I am outdoors, hoping that the molasses won't attract pests. I feel pretty comfortable because I've read that it can actually be used to deter certain pests and that it's more bitter than sweet...have you heard anything like this? I hope it's abundant too, same to you.
-t4k
thirst4knwledge
Member
hmmm well I was hoping somebody had used the brand but that's not what I wanted to hear. I've been watering with it for three or four days now and no ill signs yet...but before I get too worried about it I should probably get some specifics...if you don't mind. We're all dealing with so many variables here. What kind of grandma's do you use? (ie unsulphured, blackstrap, both, etc.). What rate are you feeding at/how often? (I feed molasses every two-three days at the rate of 1-1.5 tsp per gallon) What strain(s) was it on? How far along were they when you switched and saw negative effects? Were you also feeding nutes with the molasses? Thanks for the info/help.
-t4k
i use grandmas unsulphured "original". 2tsp per gallon, every 3-4 days. ok here is where our experiences may very...
they were in organic soil (peat/pumice/rice hulls/ewc/compost) mixed with bone/blood/neem/kelp/alfalfa meals,+ rock dust/dolomite lime/azomite
they were mostly only fed water with molasses and the trouble happened when they were in there in late veg.
thats why i said i "just like to throw this out there", just incase, i don't see anything wrong with the product, but i would be aware that the numbers are different on the each of them. i think i locked them out becase either cal or mg were higher numbers on the plantation brand.
they were in organic soil (peat/pumice/rice hulls/ewc/compost) mixed with bone/blood/neem/kelp/alfalfa meals,+ rock dust/dolomite lime/azomite
they were mostly only fed water with molasses and the trouble happened when they were in there in late veg.
thats why i said i "just like to throw this out there", just incase, i don't see anything wrong with the product, but i would be aware that the numbers are different on the each of them. i think i locked them out becase either cal or mg were higher numbers on the plantation brand.
thirst4knwledge
Member
I'm sure that's exactly what happened (a lockout of some sort). 2 tsp per gallon doesn't sound like too much, but if you fed the plantation at the same rate as grandma's. Under the nutrition facts on grandma's original, calcium says 0% and Magnesium just has - next to it...meaning there's none? whereas plantation's label says...
So you're dealing with a lot more ca and mg, not to mention k. Maybe your girls didn't like it. It's been about a week now and they seem to be loving it. Glad to hear it didn't ruin your plants, thanks for the info.
-t4k
Just throwing one more thing out there, I am guessing some folks might go to the grocery store asking for blackstrap and they don't know what the hell you are talking about. Grandmas sells here thick goodness as Original and Robust (aka Blackstrap) check it out:
http://www.bgfoods.com/grandmas/grandmas_products.asp
http://www.bgfoods.com/grandmas/grandmas_products.asp
thirst4knwledge
Member
Just in case anyone decides to purchase based on this info, including yourself:
Grandma's robust is not blackstrap molasses. Here is the info on the page you linked:
"To produce table sugar, the manufacturer will further process raw sugar into refined sugar. The remaining syrup - after the sugar has been crystallized - is called first molasses. Grandma's Robust Molasses (Green Label) is a blend of first molasses. First molasses, a thick brown syrup, is then thinned with water and re-boiled so that more raw sugar can be extracted. The leftover syrup from the second boiling is second molasses, and so on. The more boiling you have, the less sweet molasses becomes until you get down to three or more boilings. By this time, the molasses known as "blackstrap" has almost no sweetness, but the highest nutritional value."
So grandma's "robust" is a blend of first molasses, and multiple subsequent boilings are required to reach "blackstrap" grade molasses. You can tell the major differences by reading the nutrition facts of robust and any blackstrap brand. I don't think grandma's makes a blackstrap, robust is their highest grade.
Not trying to be an arse, just wanted to make it clear because you would not be able to feed these two different grades of molasses (robust and blackstrap) at the same levels. Each grade has a different optimal molasses/gallon measurement to get desired results.
-t4k
BlueGrassToker
Active member
FWIW, Robust is NOT blackstrap.
Blackstrap has sugars that are a bit different from the earlier cuts of molasses. They are more usable to the plant.
Blackstrap has sugars that are a bit different from the earlier cuts of molasses. They are more usable to the plant.
D
dramamine
That Plantation organic unsulphered kept dropping the ph of my water when I used it. I was glad I caught it right away, but probably would have had issues...never had that problem with any other brands, though.
