light and airy buds??

[Al B. Fuct]

I'd love to participate in such testing, but like many growers, I have dedicated a space to growing- and it's busy, all the time. It would be very difficult for me to incorporate any test crops without making mods to my op which would affect the productivity of the remainder of the grow, which happens to keep the coffee pot going around here. Can't muck around too much without taking a risk with my real drug of choice- caffeine.

 

[jooooooosh1934]

im also having the same problem. im hearing people tell me to get different lamps, becase im running dual tube flouros 40 watt, which from what i understant have really low lumens

 

[CaliGurl]

I've been using Blackstrape molasses along with soem awsome blossom, first time using that product, currently not with my grow but have gotten some nicepics showing density and weight gain, I'm using HIDS as well tho.. n e ways I give 3 tbls per gallon now of the molasses and it has shown to work for weight gain. If I were you I would try to get some t5's they work well I have those for my mums and clones and my Hids for flowering

 

[goldenchips]

It has an average npk of 5-1-3. Because it is a byproduct of refining sugar you get concentrated minerals too. like 30 of them. You are correct when you say it will feed bacteria. That is its most redeeming quality, feeding mychorizhal fungi.
Maybe you are too smart by half on this one.

 

[Al B. Fuct]

Hey, is anyone listening?

Plants can't use sugars as nutrients.

If you're running a hydroponic system, there should be ONE organism in there- cannabis plants.

 

[emmpey]

sugars in soil can improve microbial life, which in turn can make more nutrients available for uptake by the roots, BUT... ff you're using a complete fertilizer and dosing correctly you will see absolutely NO BENEFIT in doing this. The anecdotal evidence about positive effects of molasses is probably due to the other minerals etc. in molasses. Adding molasses to soil will also alter PH, i.e make it more acidic, so that maybe another reason why people see an improvement in their plants.

I tried it on six plants with and six without on a strain that i'd been growing for two years so had the feed cycle nailed, all i ended up with was PH problems and no improved yield.

 

[OGkushOG]

Molasses serves only to feed the beneficial fungi that is found in the medium the plant is growing in. If you are growing in compost, molasses is very beneficial. It feeds the beneficial fungi living in the compost which feed on the molasses and is able to send more nutrients through the roots.

 

[Al B. Fuct]

Molasses serves only to feed the beneficial fungi that is found in the medium the plant is growing in.

If that is a hydroponic medium, there better be no fungi or anything else.

 

[seaniken]

Hey... So Im harvesting one of my plants tomorrow. And, compared to the last one I harvested, this one is looking pretty dense. Using CFLs. It seems like there are so many variables in growing this stuff. No one can get EVERYTHING right. Im happy with wha† I have produced on my first grow. Maybe I got lucky, but the CFL's without adding any goofy tricks to the soil has worked just fine for me. Just letting you know

 

[Dirtyboy]

Hey... So Im harvesting one of my plants tomorrow. And, compared to the last one I harvested, this one is looking pretty dense. Using CFLs. It seems like there are so many variables in growing this stuff. No one can get EVERYTHING right. Im happy with wha† I have produced on my first grow. Maybe I got lucky, but the CFL's without adding any goofy tricks to the soil has worked just fine for me. Just letting you know

I hear ya. The more dinking around adding sugar and topping and fucking with this and that messes shit up at times.

 

[seaniken]

So I have chopped and dried my topped plant and I will say Im very pleased! I dont have a scale to get an accurate weight. But I'd guess about 2 ounces. Which is great for me. They are dense, sticky and have a very pungent aroma. Havnt smoked it yet but I will this week sometime. Now on to curing...

 

[McMuffin]

this happens because CFL's suck. pony up and buy a real light

 

[pacman123]

In the long run its cheaper to run a cfl for 12 or 18 hours a day than it is to run a 400watt HPS for the same amount time isnt it? Making it the more economical choice, i think cfl's are fine to use throughout the grow, less heat and risk of burning your plant and cheaper to run and purchase in the first place.

That's the common misconception, though, and if you look into it a little more thoroughly you'll discover thatCFl's in fact produce more heat than HPS! I know first reactions to that statement tend to be disbelief, but it's absolutely true. The amount of heat a CFL produces per watt it uses is more than HPS. CFL grows require many lights spread around the room and plant, so the intensity of the heat from any one bulb is certainly lower than that from even a 150 HPS. But add all that heat up and now we have an issue. On top of that, it is much more difficult to control the heat coming off 15 little bulbs than one large HPS. I think folks tend to shy away from HPS, especially new growers, because it seems more expensive, and maybe it somehow subconsciously signifies a level of commitment beyond where the grower wants to be. But when you do the math, the HPS set-up can be quite inexpensive compared to the 27 different CFL's they would inevitably purchase. That said, I've seen some nice looking grows done with cfls. Use what works, but understand HOW it works so you can make an informed decision.

 

[Al B. Fuct]

well said, pac.

 

[pacman123]

well said, pac.

Why thank you, Al. I think folks are confused on the molasses issue, too. Molasses is an option for SOIL GROWERS ONLY. It has the potential to protect your soil by feeding the good bugs/fungi/bacteria and for soil growing it's the activity happening on a micro/macrobiotic level that we are interested in. There was a fantastic article I will try to dig up comparing hydroponics with soil. Written for a gardening periodical that a dude at my garden shop gave me to read. The gist was that when growing in soil, a gardeners 1st priority is the health and viability of the living organisms in the soil as well as the overall composition. These things provided allow the plant to take what it needs. That is the fundamental difference between the two methods: Hydroponic plants are given everything they require by the grower in the right ratio's, to exploit the plants natural ability to grow. A soil grower makes sure the soil is adequate and allows the plant to sort it out from there. Molasses does contain magnesium, calcium, nitrogen, and other micronutrients. It also contains natural sugars and unless you are making beer, you would never want to introduce a natural source of sugar to a large container of warm liquid, lest you were hoping to propogate some lovely wild yeast! Not to mention the potential for sticky molasses to gum up fine plumb components of a hydro system. So again, molasses is optional for SOIL GROWERS ONLY. Using it in hydroponics makes as much sense as throwing a shovel full of composted bannana peels and rotted leaves into your resevoir! Soil growers should use it experimentally and decide for themselves.

 

[Al B. Fuct]

Agreed, but sugars will feed many types of microbes. Let's just hope the ones you want in your soil push the baddies out of the way at the dinner table!

My point about sugars in hydro ops is that cannabis plants can't uptake them. Sugars are useless as food for plants. Any hydro op worth doing will use inorganic based nutes which are compatible with H2O2, so the only living organism in the op is the cannabis plants- there ought NOT to be any microbes, beneficial or otherwise, in a hydro op.

 

[pacman123]

Exactly, and it's the INORGANIC nature of a hydro op that would no longer be such once the molasses was added! And I agree, as far as I've ever known plants don't use sugar in any form as a nutrient. The byproducts of the sugar are what growers need take interest in!

 

[pacman123]

Al-

After you use your bud dryer, do you spend any time curing in jars? If you've done both the longer hang dry and your quick method, what are the strong differences in final product, i.e. taste, scent, smoothness, texture? There is a lot of b.s. floating around about drying methods,it's tough to sort it all out! Apologies if I'm diggin up old info, but I'm almost ready to harvest.

 

[Al B. Fuct]

After you use your bud dryer, do you spend any time curing in jars?

heh, no... as soon as a bud is dry, it's in my bong (or out the door). No time for such.

If you've done both the longer hang dry and your quick method, what are the strong differences in final product, i.e. taste, scent, smoothness, texture?

I have done various drying methods over time. The only diff with the dryer is no mould or even any possibility of it.

There is a lot of b.s. floating around about drying methods,it's tough to sort it all out!

You can dry a bud any way you like that does not expose the resin to temps above 29C nor leaves them damp long enough to allow mould growth. Faster is gooder. Air motion while drying is especially gooder.

 

[pacman123]

Thank you for the clarity! rep