jay, i was under the impression feed store molasses was no good for ACT due to the preservatives and added salt?
am i being overly cautious?
am i being overly cautious?
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A Pain In Molasses
- Thread starter rrog
- Start date
That is what I use. Just make sure it is 100% cane molasses and has no sulphur or other additives. Also if possible check the sugar/brix rating...I think mine is around 76%
thirst4knwledge
Member
great read
great read
interesting thread. I'm in last 2-3 weeks of flower and though I wish I had researched the chracteristic of molasses before the season, still found it very helpful. There is a decent amount of dick swinging and useless, unrelated information towards the second half of the thread but I really enjoyed the tomato talk. I ended up purchasing the plantation brand organic blackstrap molasses (unsulphured) at my local whole foods market. They also had wholesome sweeteners brand that was slightly more expensive and I've heard it recommended, but I figured the plantation was worth a try.
-t4k
great read
interesting thread. I'm in last 2-3 weeks of flower and though I wish I had researched the chracteristic of molasses before the season, still found it very helpful. There is a decent amount of dick swinging and useless, unrelated information towards the second half of the thread but I really enjoyed the tomato talk. I ended up purchasing the plantation brand organic blackstrap molasses (unsulphured) at my local whole foods market. They also had wholesome sweeteners brand that was slightly more expensive and I've heard it recommended, but I figured the plantation was worth a try.
-t4k
thirst4knwledge
Member
$4.99 for that size bottle at whole foods. I've used it for the last two consecutive waterings at the rate of 1 tsp/gallon. I figured the plants could use it (even so late) for potential benefits such as leaching salts during flush, along with making necessary nutrients more available to the plant by increasing bacterial life.
S
SeaMaiden
I've gotten all the way to halfway through page 4, and am jumping in feet first.
First, it's all too easy to find many papers regarding direct uptake of sugars by plant roots. What's really in question is which plants can do this, and with which sugars. So to say that plants cannot directly take up sugars is incorrect and easily put to rest.
Second, while my own sense of smell has been compromised (snake bite), which means that I cannot easily discern many scents, let me suggest other reasons for using not just molasses, but any decent simple sugar--increasing yield and promoting a fuller flavor and scent profile.
I've experimented on a few grows with different sugars, at first simply because I found available to me a quart of extremely thick malted barley extract (husband stopped brewing, old extract will never be used), which after doing some research I thinned down to a sugar percentage similar to that of molasses in order to make it easier to use. I had excellent results and I don't believe that the MBE affected the scent or flavor profile of the plants at all. I have come to believe, though, after doing more experimentation, that using sugars at key points during flowering appears to boost yield. It's only this year that I finally have several separate beds, and a volunteer NL#5 who's getting nothing but our native clay and my urine to eat, while her sisters sit in a lovely raised bed planter, being lovingly fed and coddled, safe from the deer (I can't believe no deer have found this plant!).
I have already found several papers that discuss direct glucose uptake via roots.
Scholarly articles: Direct glucose uptake root.
As for sources of S, blackstrap isn't the only source. Another source of S would be a small amount of MgSO4 (Epsom salt).
I'm going to suggest people try playing around with different forms of sugar. Date, palm, cane, malted barley extract--I've used all of these to good results. But the results desired were different than what I'm reading here. I never *ever* want to change the nature of a girl. My entire goal is to get from each plant her very best. No Soft&Dry for my ladies, no scent cover-ups! Sugars are being taken up and I can see a measurable difference between the same types/strains given small amounts vs those that aren't, and that difference is in weight.
Use the sugars to fatten, not sweeten. Unless you're like me and you like your blackstrap a little too much, so a little goes into the bucket, then a little goes into you. Yum. But we can't state unequivocally that plants cannot directly uptake sugar because that's already known to not be true.
Scholarly articles: Direct root uptake sugar
Counterintuitive, to be sure, but there it is.
Here are some specific articles/abstracts for those who need something more direct. Google Scholar is our friend.
Glucose uptake by maize roots and its transformation in the rhizosphere.
Root Border Cells Take Up and Release Glucose-C
A Note on surcrose and glucose uptake by apical segments of tomato roots
Which opens with the following:
"It is well knwon that sucrose is markedly superior to glucose in supporting growth of excised tomato roots (Dormer and Street, 1949; Ferguson, Street and David, 1958; White, 1934, 1940). Ferguson (1958) emphasized that optimum growth over 7 days occurred at sucrose concentrations between 1% and 1.5%..."
So, y'all see what I'm drivin' at?
First, it's all too easy to find many papers regarding direct uptake of sugars by plant roots. What's really in question is which plants can do this, and with which sugars. So to say that plants cannot directly take up sugars is incorrect and easily put to rest.
Second, while my own sense of smell has been compromised (snake bite), which means that I cannot easily discern many scents, let me suggest other reasons for using not just molasses, but any decent simple sugar--increasing yield and promoting a fuller flavor and scent profile.
I've experimented on a few grows with different sugars, at first simply because I found available to me a quart of extremely thick malted barley extract (husband stopped brewing, old extract will never be used), which after doing some research I thinned down to a sugar percentage similar to that of molasses in order to make it easier to use. I had excellent results and I don't believe that the MBE affected the scent or flavor profile of the plants at all. I have come to believe, though, after doing more experimentation, that using sugars at key points during flowering appears to boost yield. It's only this year that I finally have several separate beds, and a volunteer NL#5 who's getting nothing but our native clay and my urine to eat, while her sisters sit in a lovely raised bed planter, being lovingly fed and coddled, safe from the deer (I can't believe no deer have found this plant!).
I have already found several papers that discuss direct glucose uptake via roots.
Scholarly articles: Direct glucose uptake root.
As for sources of S, blackstrap isn't the only source. Another source of S would be a small amount of MgSO4 (Epsom salt).
I'm going to suggest people try playing around with different forms of sugar. Date, palm, cane, malted barley extract--I've used all of these to good results. But the results desired were different than what I'm reading here. I never *ever* want to change the nature of a girl. My entire goal is to get from each plant her very best. No Soft&Dry for my ladies, no scent cover-ups! Sugars are being taken up and I can see a measurable difference between the same types/strains given small amounts vs those that aren't, and that difference is in weight.
Use the sugars to fatten, not sweeten. Unless you're like me and you like your blackstrap a little too much, so a little goes into the bucket, then a little goes into you. Yum. But we can't state unequivocally that plants cannot directly uptake sugar because that's already known to not be true.
Scholarly articles: Direct root uptake sugar
Please check the link I provided above. I think that will give you an awful lot to chew on, so to speak. It helped shift my own view and understanding of both this subject and why on earth adding something like VODKA to a saltwater aquarium might help boost nitrifying bacterial numbers (a fermented sugar, but a sugar nonetheless)(and yes, that blew me away).
Counterintuitive, to be sure, but there it is.
Here are some specific articles/abstracts for those who need something more direct. Google Scholar is our friend.
Glucose uptake by maize roots and its transformation in the rhizosphere.
Root Border Cells Take Up and Release Glucose-C
A Note on surcrose and glucose uptake by apical segments of tomato roots
Which opens with the following:
"It is well knwon that sucrose is markedly superior to glucose in supporting growth of excised tomato roots (Dormer and Street, 1949; Ferguson, Street and David, 1958; White, 1934, 1940). Ferguson (1958) emphasized that optimum growth over 7 days occurred at sucrose concentrations between 1% and 1.5%..."
So, y'all see what I'm drivin' at?
