Molasses, yay or nay?

Molasses, yay or nay?


  • Total voters
    30

Kalonji

Well-Known Member
It makes perfect sense when you actually understand organics, fool. The microbes in the soil eat the sugars, carbs, and potassium--which molasses is rich in--breaks it down i to forms the roots can take up, and the trichomes are the result of the nutrients which molasses is rich in.

Don't talk if you don't understand shit, or you're going to make yourself sound really dumb. What I just explained is scientific fact.
Gtfoh...science not your thing dude
 

bbyb420

Well-Known Member
Molasses definitely will not result in much noticable growth, but thats not what its for. When growing organic or notill I rely on the soil microbes to feed the plant which are very delicate, if you let the soil dry to much you kill off most of the microbe herd. Last grow I did not use any bottled nutes at all besides earth juice grow on my moms. My schedule was AACT, Clean water with silica/lacto bacillus, AACT, and so on. Turned out amazing and got smells and flavors ive never gotten before.

Simple tea recipe:
4 1/2 gallons of RO water
1cup fish compost (oly mountain)
1cup high quality EWC from local source
1/3 cup kelp
1/3 cup alfalfa
2 tbsp glacial rock dust
2 tbsp GO Cal/mag
4-5 tbsp of molasses depending on brew time

I use that for everything from my edibles to smokables.
 

Olive Drab Green

Well-Known Member
Molasses definitely will not result in much noticable growth, but thats not what its for. When growing organic or notill I rely on the soil microbes to feed the plant which are very delicate, if you let the soil dry to much you kill off most of the microbe herd. Last grow I did not use any bottled nutes at all besides earth juice grow on my moms. My schedule was AACT, Clean water with silica/lacto bacillus, AACT, and so on. Turned out amazing and got smells and flavors ive never gotten before.
Right, not growth. Trichome/resin production and microbe activity.
 

thewanderingjack

Well-Known Member
Ok good stuff... so over all, pretty much yeah for organic/live soil... not synthetic...

A little split on whether it yields better or more... but pretty solid on helps keep a healthy plant root zone.

I like it.

I will definitely give it a shot at some point and see what it's like for me.
 

Afgan King

Well-Known Member
Right, not growth. Trichome/resin production and microbe activity.
Trichome resin production to me is still debatable I have run molasses shit I till have a jug of sweet raw as well but stopped cuz in synthetics it's really not needed we are feeding them what they need atleast if u have a solid schedule and experience you are. I have microbe life and I never feed them they just are there

We ran it at concentrate company and there was a difference in the terpene profile from sweet raw and they said they got 2% more for yield but it was only on a couple of the strains. Different strokes for different folks even plants
 

Afgan King

Well-Known Member
Ok good stuff... so over all, pretty much yeah for organic/live soil... not synthetic...

A little split on whether it yields better or more... but prtty solid on helps keep a healthy plant root zone.

I like it.

I will definitely go it a shot at some point and see what it's like for me.
Exactly personal preference I used to swear by it too but honestly your best bet is run good genetics and have a good environment the rest will fall into place as you understand your system more and more and maybe your system will like it and it'll show a difference
 

b4ds33d

Well-Known Member
My grades reflect otherwise. It's pretty simple to understand. If you don't get it either, read a book. Top of my class in bio and I haven't even attended 3/5 of the classes. 96.6 on my midterm.
don't engage them. their form of debate is presented thusly- "Gtfoh...science not your thing dude"
an incredibly succinct statement that he couldn't even bother to pack a counter-argument in there.
 

thewanderingjack

Well-Known Member
good genetics and have a good environment
My take too... I'm a "lazy farmer"... laid back, let them grow, assist as needed. That being said, never hurts to know whats up and experiment with different techniques a bit. I mean, I am pretty sure I'll be staying away from hydro given my situation and philosophy... seems like a high input/high return situation... I'm good with little input for med returns (in terms of quantity... quality still needs to be between... B-AAA)

Then again I've looked at the Hempy bucket and that's moving toward hydro... so who knows?!
 

Rasta Roy

Well-Known Member
Sooooo I didn't read through everyone's arguments to see if anyone had said this already...but the science behind why you feed molasses in flower is...

Your plant makes sugars y'all know (photosynthesis and all that), in organic gardening...some of these sugars are carried through exudates into the root zone where they feed the microherd who then make all that organic matter accessible to the plant.

During peak production however...They're may not be enough sugar for the plant to exude into the root zone. So adding molasses makes up for that. Keeping the microherd fed.

It is important to consider, the molasses is a good food source to get the microherd going...but if you overdo it. They'll spend too much time munching on sugars instead of eating up that organic matter that you need made available.
 

b4ds33d

Well-Known Member
Sooooo I didn't read through everyone's arguments to see if anyone had said this already...but the science behind why you feed molasses in flower is...

Your plant makes sugars y'all know (photosynthesis and all that), in organic gardening...some of these sugars are carried through exudates into the root zone where they feed the microherd who then make all that organic matter accessible to the plant.

During peak production however...They're may not be enough sugar for the plant to exude into the root zone. So adding molasses makes up for that. Keeping the microherd fed.

It is important to consider, the molasses is a good food source to get the microherd going...but if you overdo it. They'll spend too much time munching on sugars instead of eating up that organic matter that you need made available.
yeah, all of that was said. multiple times.
 

Afgan King

Well-Known Member
My take too... I'm a "lazy farmer"... laid back, let them grow, assist as needed. That being said, never hurts to know whats up and experiment with different techniques a bit. I mean, I am pretty sure I'll be staying away from hydro given my situation and philosophy... seems like a high input/high return situation... I'm good with little input for med returns (in terms of quantity... quality still needs to be between... B-AAA)

Then again I've looked at the Hempy bucket and that's moving toward hydro... so who knows?!
Not at all I just know what the plants need. Why am I gonna add extra when my partner just pulled 35lbs of gorilla glue and pura vida off of 14 lights and it was the sickest bud I've had in a long time and I was a commercial grower for a while and he shit on every grow ive been at in Denver straight up and uses only
Canna coco A&b
General organics Cal mag
Rhizotonic
Cannazyme
Pk
So anyone who says you need extras man you dont "need" them I guarantee it genetics, your base nutes, and environment is all you need 2977.jpeg 3226.jpeg 3221.jpeg 3195.jpeg 3203.jpeg
 

Dr.Nick Riviera

Well-Known Member
It makes perfect sense when you actually understand organics, fool. The microbes in the soil eat the sugars, carbs, and potassium--which molasses is rich in--breaks it down i to forms the roots can take up, and the trichomes are the result of the nutrients which molasses is rich in.

Don't talk if you don't understand shit, or you're going to make yourself sound really dumb. What I just explained is scientific fact.
lmfao
 
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Dr.Nick Riviera

Well-Known Member
DOH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Molasses for Plants
By Robert Pavlis on March 31, 2014

This is a hot gardening topic these days and many of the organic gardeners are promoting the idea that you should add molasses to your compost pile and to your garden. It makes the microbes grow better–they need to eat, don’t you know?

Molasses; should you eat it, or dump it onto your soil? You have come to the right place to get the facts.


Molasses for Plants


Molasses, What is it?
Molasses is a byproduct produced during the manufacture of sugar. Sugar cane or sugar beets are processed so that the sugar can be extracted. The material that is left after most of the sugar is removed is a black sticky material called molasses. Molasses contains sugar, some other carbohydrates, vitamins and a number of minerals like calcium and iron.

Molasses for Plants
You probably know that it is important to have microbes in your soil. If not, have a look atOrganic Fertilizer – What is its Real Value. If having microbes is important, than it makes sense that you should feed those microbes. Feeding them will make them healthy, and make them reproduce so that you have even more microbes. Guess what? Microbes, especially the bacteria, love sugar. It’s no surprise that they also love molasses since it is mostly sugar.

So far it all seems to make sense. Microbes are good for soil, and molasses is good for microbes, so why not add it to soil? The short answer is that there is nothing wrong with adding molasses to your garden, or to your compost pile. It will feed the microbes.

Does it Make Sense to Add Molasses?
I’ll save you the trouble of skipping to the end of this post–the answer is NO!

Understanding why the answer is no will help you understand your garden. Let’s have a look. In a normal garden, or compost pile, you have a large variety of microbes, all going about their daily lives. They find something to eat, they poop, and they die. This is a continual process that goes on a billion times a second.

Microbes are opportunistic in that their populations will increase and decrease as the conditions change. Let’s assume you have not been doing too much in the garden so conditions are not changing. In that case the microbe populations remain steady. Things are chugging along at a normal pace and everybody is happy.

Now you dump a lot of molasses on the garden. Instantly, microbes sense the extra food and they start to multiply. Bacteria can divide (ie double the population) every 20 minutes. The population explodes very quickly. All those bacteria need to eat, and they quickly consume the molasses you added. As the food source runs out there is a massive famine and most of the bacteria die.

What has the molasses accomplished?

Not much. It is true that all of the dead bacteria go on to feed other microbes, and they help build soil structure. The minerals in the molasses stay in the soil and plants can use them, but your soil probably had enough calcium and iron before you added the molasses. The vitamins in molasses are of no value to plants.

Is the massive population explosion good for your plants? I don’t think anyone knows, but most things in nature are better off without massive changes, and plant roots depend very much on the population of microbes around their roots. I just can’t believe a bacteria population explosion is good for the plants.

Molasses might make your compost pile work quicker, but the first rain, or your hose, will wash the sugars out of the pile removing any benefits.


Do You Need to Feed the Microbes?
The reason for adding molasses is to feed the microbes, so it is important to ask, “Should the gardener feed the microbes?” The answer is a resounding YES! However, there are many ways to do this. Adding compost, wood chips or other organic matter as a mulch is the best way. This provides a slow, steady release of food for the microbes.

Molasses is a product that we can use to feed people and animals. I’d rather eat gingerbread cookies than compost and wood chips. From an environmental point of view it makes more sense to put non-edible organic matter in the garden and keep the food in the fridge.

There is no “magic” in molasses. It’s just another source of organic matter that will be decomposed in the garden. All organic matter contains carbohydrates, sugars, minerals and vitamins, just like molasses. Don’t believe me …… consider the fact that molasses is made from plants; sugar cane or sugar beets.

References:

1) Photo Source: Йоана Петрова
http://www.gardenmyths.com/molasses-for-plants/
 
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