blackstrap mollasses

[RonSmooth]

So....we growers can't improve on Mother Nature? There's a HOST of things growers and farmers use that Mother Nature doesn't provide. Molasses feeds the microorganisms that the plants need for good health and vigor.

Ron, you point out the need for proper nutrients for plants, but somehow can't see that MO is part of that.

You point out the benefits of Mycos, but you don't seem to understand the meaning of "symbiotic." Symbiotic means it's a 2 way street. Both plant and fungi provide benefits to each other.

Your post shows a lot of conclusions drawn from a very incomplete knowledge of the Rhyzosphere. It's hugely complex involving thousands of critters, not just mycos. Sugars feed most of them so that they exist in higher numbers, increasing their benefit to the plants either directly or indirectly. -granger

My point was that the plant provides the food (sugars) for the mycorrhizae. This is why it forms around roots. Also why it is beneficial in helping with the uptake of nutrients.

I think I understand the term symbiotic just fine. The relationship is between plant and fungi not plant, fungi and grandma's backstrap molasses.

The plant can only support what it can support. Once the roots have been colonized, thats it.

What other "critters" is the molasses feeding? What is the point of feeding them?

 

[Snype]

Yeah I happen to agree with Ron on this one. When I ran Molasses with GH salt based nutes, it didn't do anything at all. I tested it for over 6 months too. I'm not an organic guy yet but what Ron said about feeding the fungi or bacteria or whatever it is seems to be what the organic guys talk about and makes the most sense.

 

[macdiesel]

Ron is correct on every level....but by all means, dispute the science behind it......thanks for adding to the useless noise!

 

[habeeb]

There is a lot of misinformation and misconceptions regarding the use of molasses or other carbs/"sweetener" products.

Nutrients don't add flavor or smell. Provide the best environment and nutrition for the plant and it will reach its potential. Proper nutrient levels make for healthy plants which make for high quality harvests.

"MoLASSes" (<---probably why you werent turning up any search results) is used as an attempt to feed the mycorrhizae which in turn promote a healthy root mass.

The thing is, the plant provides the sugars/carbs. The mycorrhiza doesn't need to be fed more than that. The carbs are translocated from the leaves to the roots which is why the fungi grow on them in the first place. The beneficial fungus colonizing the root mass can aid in the absorption of water and nutrients. The food for the fungus has to come from the roots not the medium. You also have to ensure that the medium contains the correct beneficial fungi in the first place.

It is unlikely that an indoor, potted plant needs any help in this department especially if you are feeding it readily available nutrient salts. Organic methods only need to provide the fungi to form mycorrhizae, the plant will feed them itself.

Flushing with molasses is worthless IMO. Just another canna-myth that gets repeated enough that it gains some degree of pseudo credibility.

you forgot to add, it's has nutrients in it, notably Ca/ MG / Iron / K


no one also knows in an accelerated environment, what function carbs might do.. as I say this thinking of amino acids.

I am not really a fan of molasses, but when on the topic of nutrients, there is definitely room for molasses whether we like it or not.

 

[Granger2]

I've never grown any other way but organic. With organics molasses is a valuable additive. If you grow with chem based nutes, I won't spend my time arguing about its value. Very possible that it has limited value if any with chems. Do what you want.
-granger

 

[al70]

thank's guys, i used it on my first run with gh nutes and to be honest i did'nt notice much difference in swelling, if anything i noticed that when i started feeding it the leaves went yellow immediatly, i'm cutting them down today, so i'll let ye know if there's any noticeable flavour improvement, goodluck all.

 

[BigSteve]

Molasses won't give a benefit to unhealthy,deficient,halfway dead plants anyways. Which is the condition of 99% of plants owned by people here.

I wouldn't expect a taste difference or a visual difference with how it normally grows on your first time using. I don't know if I mentioned how I use it earlier, but I will again.

Last week before flush I taper my nutrients and at this time start adding carbs if I wasn't before. You will notice people sometimes flush their plants for months and they are still green, it's because the plant is stalled. Tapering the nutrients helps to keep the plant from stalling. And I've noticed some swelling going when I lower nutrients, which the molasses also will somehow increase. Where the molasses really works its magic, is while you are flushing. You will notice your plants continue to ripen and swell. Instead of just stopping dead when you start flushing. Which is what I've noticed frequently.

Al70 mentioned that molasses turned his/her plants yellow, it's probably because it kicked the plant in the pants, which motivated it to WORK! If a plant turned yellow from molasses it wants more nutrients.

I'm not saying you can't do the same thing without molasses, obviously, I been using MS instead. But it DOES work and it IS trustworthy.

I don't know why molasses does this. I usually use Grade A Dark Amber Maple Syrup at 15ML a gallon the last few years instead. It could be that the nutrients in it can help protect from stalling, or the carbs cast a magic spell. I don't know, don't really care. It works and if you TRY to make it work, you will see the difference. I believe that the nutrients and sugars keep the plant from stalling. I know it has even more benefits in an organic setup.


If you were going to give a 10 day flush, I would give it molasses the first 5-7 days. If your plants are in a hot environment and growing vigorously your flush should happen faster and a 3 day flush has worked more than good for me. Plants go from green to all sorts of colors.

 

[al70]

Molasses won't give a benefit to unhealthy,deficient,halfway dead plants anyways. Which is the condition of 99% of plants owned by people here.

I wouldn't expect a taste difference or a visual difference with how it normally grows on your first time using. I don't know if I mentioned how I use it earlier, but I will again.

Last week before flush I taper my nutrients and at this time start adding carbs if I wasn't before. You will notice people sometimes flush their plants for months and they are still green, it's because the plant is stalled. Tapering the nutrients helps to keep the plant from stalling. And I've noticed some swelling going when I lower nutrients, which the molasses also will somehow increase. Where the molasses really works its magic, is while you are flushing. You will notice your plants continue to ripen and swell. Instead of just stopping dead when you start flushing. Which is what I've noticed frequently.

Al70 mentioned that molasses turned his/her plants yellow, it's probably because it kicked the plant in the pants, which motivated it to WORK! If a plant turned yellow from molasses it wants more nutrients.

I'm not saying you can't do the same thing without molasses, obviously, I been using MS instead. But it DOES work and it IS trustworthy.

I don't know why molasses does this. I usually use Grade A Dark Amber Maple Syrup at 15ML a gallon the last few years instead. It could be that the nutrients in it can help protect from stalling, or the carbs cast a magic spell. I don't know, don't really care. It works and if you TRY to make it work, you will see the difference. I believe that the nutrients and sugars keep the plant from stalling. I know it has even more benefits in an organic setup.


If you were going to give a 10 day flush, I would give it molasses the first 5-7 days. If your plants are in a hot environment and growing vigorously your flush should happen faster and a 3 day flush has worked more than good for me. Plants go from green to all sorts of colors.

You're spot on big steve, i've just finished trimming n i did'nt realise how dense these buds were until i got my hands into them, the triches on the big buds were cloudy but when i got down to the popcorn in the middle the triches were sparkling still,, still putting out new pistels, so i put em back under the lights for another while, seems like after 10 days on mollasses they just want to keep on goin, goodluck.

 

[RonSmooth]

Any "evidence" of molasses's benefit is always purely anecdotal.

It does contain nutrients, I am not saying that it doesn't. But, the vast majority of molasses users are not using it for its Ca or Fe, they are using it because they believe it "sweetens" the buds or provides necessary food for beneficial fungi/bacteria. I am only saying that for indoor potted plants, it is unnecessary and doesn't function in the way that most users think it does.

"Flushing" with molasses or any other sugar/carb product is even more useless to me. Again, the "evidence" here is purely anecdotal and doesn't make sense from a scientific perspective. If your plants are deficient in an element contained in molasses such as Ca, then the Ca is what is working and there are more effective means of providing Ca for plants.

It doesnt bother me if someone wants to use molasses. Its your plant, you can do what you want with it. It does bother me when unsubstantiated claims are tossed around as fact.

 

[al70]

Agreed Ron, i did use it during flush to see would it improve taste and scent, results of which are unknown as of yet, however another reason i used it was because i don't like the idea of starving a plant completely during the last two weeks, i figured that the mollasses would help them through to the end, i believe there was had no ill or adverse effects from adding during flush, on my next grow i'm gonna do a side by side for curiosities sake, goodluck

 

[Granger2]

Yes, Ron, anecdotal, like your evidence. -granger
Start here [9 parts] http://soils.usda.gov/sqi/concepts/soil_biology/biology.html
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/douglas/mg/dcmg/aerated-compost-tea
http://www.simplici-tea.com/
http://www.microbeorganics.com/

 

[macdiesel]

Molasses won't give a benefit to unhealthy,deficient,halfway dead plants anyways. Which is the condition of 99% of plants owned by people here.

 

[moses wellfleet]

There is a nice post around here that explains how helpful adding molasses can be. I'm not gonna attempt to repeat it. But the carbs are supposed to help. I like to give maple syrup during the first few days of flush, it looks like it helps with the swelling.

You feed maple syrup to your plants?... You may find me lying on my back in your grow room with my mouth open hoping to catch some run off... Your plants eat better than I do!

 

[BigSteve]

@Granger Those links look tasty. I'll read up on them later when I'm not so busy juggling kids. I poked around the first chapter of the USDA page. Looked like a good site for simpletons like me.

@MacDaddy I'm glad you find my posts funny. I try, but nobody else ever seems to laugh. You better not be laughing at me though.

@Moses When I'm feeding my plants I usually end up feeding myself some. It's my little secret. I always feel ashamed when I'm caught with the bottle turned up.

 

[Granger2]

al70,
Didn't you say you stopped nutes and started using MO? So I don't think the yellowing can be blamed on, or completely on, MO. You said you were surprised at the density of your buds when trimmed. Denser compared to what? Have you grown the same strains without MO? Keep the info coming. Good luck. -granger

 

[al70]

al70,
Didn't you say you stopped nutes and started using MO? So I don't think the yellowing can be blamed on, or completely on, MO. You said you were surprised at the density of your buds when trimmed. Denser compared to what? Have you grown the same strains without MO? Keep the info coming. Good luck. -granger

Hi granger, this is my first grow but i have observed a few grows from start to finish and i have to say that i have'nt seen results like my own, my friend grew 1 crit mass. in dwc, he got 6oz dry from that monster, he does'nt use mollasses, i can't say for sure if the mollasses had anything to do with the outcome of my grow or why the leaves yellowed two days after stopping nutes, but i will say this, it done them no harm whatsoever and for the price of a jar of blackstrap i'm not going to change something that for me is working well, i'm not recommending use of mollasses but i'm gonna keep on useing, next grow i'm gonna do a side by side, goodluck granger.

 

[trichrider]

i've some cured bud i used mo on...they taste alot like rum cured.
fact i use mo consistently, wouldn't think about stopping.
my pots smell like gods green earth.
but sure as shit wouldn't be using it if i were using salt based nutes.

 

[Granger2]

al70,
Keep us apprised. Thanks. -granger

 

[al70]

i've some cured bud i used mo on...they taste alot like rum cured.
fact i use mo consistently, wouldn't think about stopping.
my pots smell like gods green earth.
but sure as shit wouldn't be using it if i were using salt based nutes.

hi trichrider, i'm curious, what do you mean salt based nutes ?

 

[RonSmooth]

Yes, Ron, anecdotal, like your evidence. -granger
Start here [9 parts] http://soils.usda.gov/sqi/concepts/soil_biology/biology.html
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/douglas/mg/dcmg/aerated-compost-tea
http://www.simplici-tea.com/
http://www.microbeorganics.com/

But its not up to me to prove your assertion wrong. The burden of proof lies with the one making the claim.

Those are links (mostly) non scientific. Some are actually written to promote a product...by the manufacturer. Either way, they do not address the question at hand:

"It is necessary or beneficial to feed plants molasses"

and specifically:

"What does it accomplish?"

It does not feed the mycorrhizae. That is obvious.

Other microorganisms in the soil feed on the organic matter in the soil. The castings, guano, bone meal, kelp etc. Thats what you want them to be eating. They help it become more available to the plant as all those things are useless to a plant until they are broken down into cations or.... salts.

Sure, they probably like molasses but if theyre feeding on molasses, who is eating and breaking down all the organic matter that is present in the soil in the first place?

Maybe I am missing something. Maybe I dont understand. So explain it to me. I'd love to learn.