has anyone out there tried molasses on their organic plants? I mixed bonemeal and bloodmeal with my soil ( along with a few other things) and the only nutrients I give my babies after this came in the form of a few spoonfulls of unsulphured molasses in every other watering. I recently harvested a white widow using this method, just waiting on it to dry to taste the results
As do I, but as an experiment I used only the molasses on my white widow, I sampled a few of the smaller buds that dried out a lil quicker than the rest and the result was an incredible sweetness!
I have read of people who just give molasses only in the last couple of weeks before harvest. I will try that this year, but will give my normal ferts until then.
An urban myth passed between Stoner Mike and Big Bud Bill is that molasses can make cannabis 'sweet' - ludicrous. Molasses is used by organic farmers to feed the micro-herd in their organic soils. The carbohydrates feed the bacteria which, depending on the time of the grow/flower cycle, can be a good thing or it can be overdone at the expense of the bacteria breaking down phosphorus for uptake by the soil's fungai. Like any other organism, bacteria prefer sugar and if that's available then all other of their processes come to a grinding halt until the sugar is consumed. 'Less is best' when it comes to applying molasses to the soil. 1 or 2 tsp. per gallon as a soil soak and 1 tsp. as a foliar spray is more than adequate. Molasses as a foliar application is helpful in fighting powdery mildew (due to its sulphur content among other reasons) and for feeding the aerobic microbe colonies on the leaves, branches and stems. Molasses is not a soil amendment. It's not a fertilizer. It can best be described as a food for the things that make your organic gardens go 'pop' Livestock molasses usually runs about $11.00 for 3 gallons (about 50 lbs.) at a feed/farm store. LumperDawgz
You can also find dry molasses at feed/farm stores. It's molasses which has been sprayed onto rye seed hulls. Add about 3/4 cup per 5 gallons of soil or 1 cup per 1 cf. It usually runs about $20.00 per 50 lbs. which is lots and lots of 3/4 cup units. Lumperdawgz
PLEASE the quoted advice below is about as WRONG AS IT COULD BE for growing MJ!!! Do NOT use sulfured Molasses for your MJ grow - it WILL KILL YOUR PLANT! Please read my sticky about he above: Using Molasses as a nutrient
It's generally good to understand the products being discussed before assigning one's own personal comments as to another poster's knowledge or expertise. The term(s) blackstrap, sulphured and un-sulphured only refer to the processing of sugar cane. It does not refer to all types of sugar processing. Sugar beets are a larger source of sugar than sugar cane in this country. A trip to any grocery store will back that up - look at the section carrying 'cane sugar' as opposed to 'sugar' and then read the labels. Always a good idea, eh? In Montana are a number of mega-corporations processing sugar beets into sugar and one of the by-products is 'molassed sugar beet feed' which is available at feed/farm stores as I indicated in my post. You're welcome. BTW - I did look at your thread and read about what I expected, i.e. how molasses will really 'sweeten up your buds' or how you either should or should not 'flush with molasses' or any of the other myriad of cannabis growing myths. I even learned a few new myths over at your thread so a 'thank you' is in order to you as well! LumperDawgz
One thing i recently learned about molasses is it doesn't MAKE the buds sweeter it only encourages any natural sweetness(if the strain has any to begin with) to be accentuated. I grow the sweet buds and so i use it at 10ml/cc per gal throughout flower every time i water/feed.
Im wondering if this sulfur debate has anything to do with the dif. between ppl who use "dead soil" vs "organic living soil"?? Is it possible the sulfur is toxic to a semi dead soil while it has no ill effects to a healthy organic homemade soil?
So this third BS from the farm supply which is cheap has sulfur,is it better to use something w/o sulfur? When is it used with ourplants?
ocitown Only 2 states produce any amount of sugar cane, i.e. Texas and Louisiana. Formerly Hawaii and Florida produced crops of any size but those days are over. Naturally India & China are some of the top producers. Sugar cane is an expensive crop to grow for producing sugar which is why the majority of 'sugar' in the supermarkets is made from sugar beets grown up in Montana, North & South Dakota, etc. where the land is pretty much worthless for any row crops or grain production. The relatively little amount of sugar cane molasses produced in this country goes to food manufacturers where it's turned into the 'Grandma' or 'Brer Rabbit' type of products. Much of it goes to food processors and manufacturers. On that note, the next time you're looking at a 'natural whole-wheat bread' at your local organic grocery store, look at the label and if it says 'molasses' then it's not 'un-sulphured molasses' because any manufacturer would have to state that one way or the other. That's how it works for human food products. Labeling for livestock is governed by a completely federal agency, D.O.A vs. F.D.A. Molasses produced from sugar beets is not sulphured because it's processed in a completely different fashion. Not even close. Livestock molasses stinks because it's a raw, partly digested plant material product. It's loaded with complex sugars, minerals and YES, it even contains traces of sulphur un-related to processing methods. Lots of things we use on our gardens contain sulphur - like kelp meal or any seaweed product. Same with fish enzyme. And on and on and on.
As you see, Sulphur is a trace element in growing, whether you are full out organic or just a plain soil grower like myself. Molasses works great for flowering. No, I would never use just molasses during flowering, my results are too good using a bloom & boost formula to even consider changing my regime. I do however see the improvement molasses has made during flowering, especially in the last few weeks during my final flush. Companies like Advanced nutrients have made products that are nothing more than watered down molasses and other sugar products w/ the claim it makes the bud taste better...IMHO that is BS and just an advertising ploy to win over customers. Do I use molasses during every stage of growth...no! I do use during flowering as a soil additive and find it produces excellent results. less
If the 'livestock molasses' is of such great concern, then perhaps contacting a local food service supply company would help. Companies like SYSCO, FSA (Food Services of America), Shamrock Foods, Monarch Foods, et al. The current price for a 5-gallon bucket of 'organic unsulphered molasses' for the baking industry is $28.00 locally which works out to be 40 pints @ $28.00 meaning that this product would cost $.70 per pint. Again this is for 5-gallons of organic unsulphered human-grade food. Just an idea......... LD