Whats up ladies and gents, Currently running 5 hempy buckets.. Just starting 2nd week of flowering and I came across some info regarding molasses as an additive for its "sweetening ability" as well as its overall nutritional value. After a few searches on here I only came up with about 3 posts regarding its use in hydro, and they were extremely divided in terms of sludge issues, bacterial growth, and actual preparation of the molasses etc.. Was going to add to my feeding schedule tonight, and would GREATLY appreciate any advice.. So the real question is, do the pros outweigh the cons when dealing with molasses in a hydroponic/passive hydroponic system? And for those who use it, what are your strategies for preparation? Thanks in advance.. Be blessed
Molasses is used to feed soil microbes and has nothing to do with sweetness of the buds..pretty sure it would be pointless in hydro unless using it for its cal/mag..If you want to try sugars in hydro get something clear and thinner like carboload or sweet
Hey, thanks for the quick response.. I'm aware of Molasses' use for feeding microbes/bennies in teas etc... But I have read a good deal of material supporting its effectiveness for sweetening and causing "stickier" buds.. was trying to avoid the over-priced "bud candy's" etc... anybody else?
This is what I use. http://www.nutri-plus.ca/carborator_en.html I started by using GH FloraNectar but I was disgusted the first time I ever opened the bottle. The goowy sh!t that poured out the bottle turned me right off. Anyway... I used it for a couple days and found my soup was not looking to good. The ph was stable, but the overall look and smell of my nutes was gross. So I urged my supplier to stock some Carborator, which he did, and I got some of that to replace the GH FloraNectar. I'm still very new to growing so I can't tell you how good or bad each products are. When I bought the stuff, I read an article, or someone's review who was comparing Carborator to BudCandy. According to that person, the results were very similar, but 1 key difference. The price! I quickly searched for that "post/article/whatever it was" but I couldn't find it. When I do, I'll post the link to it. For what it's worth, I did notice a difference in "stickyness" after started adding FloraNectar/Carborator. Was it placebo effect? Possibly, but I don't think it was. Edit Here you go http://www.cannabis-exotique.info/showthread.php?14701-Nutri-Engrais-Made-in-Canada That's not the actual page i read but, they have a copy/paste of what I read. It's a long page filled with french info but search for the following on the page and you'll get to the article I'm talking about. Search for: NUTRI PLUS vs Advanced Nutrients: Big Bud and Over Drive Made by Nice People
Now that's a thought.. cheaper alternatives.. thx blaze! I initially was looking for floranectar but the grow shop doesn't stock it.. Guess i'm glad they dont! lol
Here you go http://www.cannabis-exotique.info/showthread.php?14701-Nutri-Engrais-Made-in-Canada That's not the actual page i read but, they have a copy/paste of what I read. It's a long page filled with french info but search for the following on the page and you'll get to the article I'm talking about. Search for: NUTRI PLUS vs Advanced Nutrients: Big Bud and Over Drive Made by Nice People I read the whole copy/paste and he appears to be missing part of the article. He copy/pasted enough to still get the point he's trying to make though. i found the actual link. Turns out I'm partially wrong. The actual comparison was Carborator vs Carboload. http://webhydro.com/blog/carboload-vs-carborator/ http://webhydro.com/blog/post/view/identifier/Nutri-Plus-vs-Advanced-Nutrients/ - more info in links at the bottom of the page
unless the blackstrap( regular grandmas of blackbriar is just placebo bullshit for noobs) has been broken down for hydro, you'll only get bacteria blooms, and wildly fluctuating Ph IME. better to use a sweetener built for hydroponics, there is dozens of em .. take your pic. @ blaze , sounds liek you picked up some out of date( or improperly stored) Floranecter, it should be clear and pour freely.
Hey Cl4P, Good to know about the floranectar.. Took the plunge and went with bud candy.. Thanks a lot ..
Monday when I answered your post, it was rez refresh day for me. It was also the beginning of Flower Week 5, so right in the middle of flowering. I have a non-recirculating dwc setup so my buckets are independent of each other. I still have that bottle of FloraNectar so I decided I'd give it another chance and do a side-by-side comparison. I already know what the stuff smells like, and I already know what it looks like. So this time when I use it, I don't get the same "wow" or "ew" factor when I smell and see the stuff come out the bottle. For all I know, maybe it's the right smell, and maybe it's the right look. It simply did not look right when I used it the first time. Maybe because I don't know enough about that product. So anyway... I decided to try again, and to start using it right in the middle of flowering. I have 2 plants that have been fed the exact same recipe since germination. They both looked pretty much identical on Monday night so they start on even grounds. I'm going to refer to them as Site D, and Site B. For the rez change, Site D got the same recipe it was supposed to get, this recipe includes Carborator. For site B, I gave it the same recipe but I substituted the Carborator with FloraNectar in equivalent proportion. So both sites are now running the same recipe except for 1 component. 1 site uses carborator, the other site uses FloraNectar. I put a note on my schedule to report back to this thread on harvest day so I can share the results of my little experiment. I will likely not be updating the status of each site before harvest, unless I see something major. So far I can say the rez that holds the FloraNectar does not look as bad as what it looked like the first time I used the stuff in my first grow. I dug the web on Monday night looking for other people who use FloraNectar and I came accross quite a bunch of people who had nice things to say about the product. Made the buds stickier, heavier, more aromatic smell and so on... those were the comments I read over and over again. So maybe it's a good thing I try it again.
Hi I use molasses in my hempy buckets I have always 18 in flower along side 18 top feed drip buckets with a 50/50 coco perlite mix I mix 1 table spoon molasses to 5L warm water along with my regular nute mix ph to 5.8 and feed I feed every second day and molasses every second feed In my experience it does make for more sticky dense bud and a lot of frosting. But as I say its just what I have found will attach a picture of a bud harvested then cured my 2c worth its very subjective and growers all have their preferred methods experiment and decide Cheers Bos
Great! Finally heard from someone with experience using molasses hydroponically.. Great to know it's possible.. No slime or bacterial issues?
big difference between soilless mix( coco/perlite or perlite/vermiculite/peat in the old days) and hydro (DWC, EnF, Aero). but i see I missed the apart about you using hempys, so rock on. FTR there is a whole section dedicated to coco use here on GC. you may get much better answers there regarding your hempy grow. good luck
Hi Well speaking for myself I have never had slime or any other issues but remember that molasses is not good in recirculating systems only drain to waste never store diluted molasses keep your rez clean and I run 3 teaspoon Epson salts to 25L water thru each system every 14 days this helps buffer my medium and for some strange reason stops my drippers from gumming up