Molasses basically feeds the microbes, which take your basic nutrients and "break them down" to a readily absorbable form for your plants.(its a bit more complicated than this) It doesnt do much for anything else; and I would NOT use it in a hydro system. If the microbes arent the ones converting your nutrients it happens through mineralization. Some ferts.(highr end) provide readily availabe forms of the nutrients so your plants can do they're thing. I have used it and had good results(organic/soils grows) Molasses=steroids for microbial life
They are in the supermarket.... usually where either the sugar or baking products are... just make sure you get unsulphured molasses
ok, i looked everywere an i could only find one. Im not sure if it is Unsulphered.....(hope so) Heres the nutrition info Its Black Strap Molasses (blue label) this is per serving (35grms) energy 409.5kj protein 1.5gram fat, total <0.1gram -saturated <0.1gram carbohydrate 22.6gram -sugars 21.5gram sodium 94.5 milligram iron 3.4milligram do u think its sulphered?? Any1 ways im 2 full days into flush.. i wanna know if this is the right molasses. If so, will it feed my DWC setup for a extra week of flushing?
OK, they say the only stupid questions are the ones that are not asked, so here goes, LOL. 1. Where can one find this Blackstrap Mole-asses? I live in the southeast United States. 2. How do I mix the molasses with the water? Seems molasses is like a syrup - will it readily mix with water? I grew for a couple of years in the late seventies (producing not much to brag about, LOL), and had to stop the herb while raising children, but I am back in the game, as the kids are all grown and gone, and now it's time for wifey and I to have some fun. Also it never ceases to amaze me at the folks who have such common disregard for new tokers, or "noobs", as they love to call them. Wonder if those same people considered THEMSELVES as NOOBS when they first started enjoying ganja. Why can't we all just get along, and HELP anyone who needs it. Twas how we did it back in the day - should work very well now! Thanks in advance for any help I recieve, and keep on toking!
Hey Noob! 1) @ any Supermarket, all will work as long as they are UN-sulfured! (Even Walmart has it!) 2) Mix it in preferably warm water for easy dissolving.
LOL, thanks Leap! I have never even purchased molasses in my 52 years! Had no idea there was even unsulphered! Thanks a ton - I'm gonna give it a try on my new grow! Keep on toking!
I bought a thing of Brer Rabbit mild flavor molasses that says its unsulphured but does not say anything about it being blackstrap. This and grandmas original molasses where my only choice, so I got the Brer Rabbit. My question is, does it matter if it is blackstrap and will the type I got work fine.
To leapfrog and all who visit, The question has come up a few times in this thread and many other places around the net about the efficacy of molasses as a nutritional supplement (we all know well enough about its other benefits), particulary EC/TDS/PPM and pH levels, so I'll address it in this thread to the best of my ability and point all curious cats here. My apologies if I repeated some information already found in this thread.. feel free to provide feedback and correct any errors. It should be noted that I had to dig my EC meter out of its hiding place and that it has not been calibrated in a long time. My calibration solution is nowhere to be found, so I will run EC tests again after calibration and edit this post if the changes are significant. I'll also double check the conversion against mg/l sometime later. However, I did use a separate pH meter, calibrated, that is accurate to +/- .01. Readers may skip to the final conclusion for a quick summary if they wish. Here are the results of 3 major brands: Grandma's Original Molasses (Yellow Label):http://www.amazingribs.com/images/pix/grandmas_molasses.jpg This is a brand of 'first,' unsulphured molasses. First molasses has been processed (boiled & sugars extracted) only once and contains a bit less nutrient content than Grandma's Green Label (see below) and significantly less than than other brands of Blackstrap Molasses. The quantity of potassium is the nutrient that varies the most from brand to brand, and potassium concentrations will increase as you get closer to blackstrap status, which is the third boil & extraction of sugar. All nutrient quantities are closely approximated. I do not know the manganese and copper values, but every brand contains them in perfect amounts for our needs. Their EC is neglibile, so it is also not included. The mixture for all tests is 1 Tbsp (15 mL) of molasses mixed with 1 gallon distilled (confirmed 0 ppm): Iron: .76 mg Magnesium: 16 mg Calcium: 40 mg Potassium: 150 mg PPM: 55 (EC .08) pH: 5.3 Grandma's Robust Molasses (Green Label): http://mybrands.com/images/products/large/101_1480071116.JPG Brand of 'second,' unsulphured molasses. Recommended over the yellow label because of its somewhat higher nutritional value to plants (and humans). Iron: 1.52 mg Magnesium: 32 mg Calcium: 60 mg Potassium: 200 mg PPM: 87 (EC .12) pH: 5.8 Brer Rabbit's Blackstrap Molasses: http://www.hometownfavorites.com/images/HFST102.JPG Recommended over Grandma's Green Label, particularly for flowering. Iron: 1.8 mg Magnesium: 60 mg Calcium: 20 mg Potassium: 800 mg PPM: 250 (EC .36) pH: 6.3 -------------------------------- Additional Info Regarding pH: The low pH is not a concern because the concentration of protons (hydrogen ions) is extremely low. Molasses is only very slightly acidic. When you add the molasses/distilled solution to your soil, it will adopt a value almost identical to your medium. This is why you never hear of pH imbalances combined with molasses watering. Why does the pH of molasses become more basic as the concentration of elements increase? Potash is derived from the distillation of cane/beet sugar, which is essentially where your molasses comes from. The potassium carbonate in molasses increases as the raw sugar is processed. After the third processing, your molasses becomes 'blackstrap' and the presence of additional potassium carbonate will raise the pH. Conclusion: The PPM and pH of molasses are both largely irrelevant for a soil grower. Ultimately, you can choose whichever unsulphured brand that you want and get fine results, but the greatest concentration of nutrients will be found in second and especially third (blackstrap) molasses. Also, be wary of some internet sites that have a picture of Grandma's Molasses with nutritional info from a completely different type of molasses. They don't mean any harm, but they sometimes have it wrong.. Grandma's Green Label provides twice the iron and magnesium content as the Yellow Label, while delivering 50 more mg of potassium and 25% more calcium. Additionally, the presence of more potassium carbonate will serve as a pH buffer. Your average brand of blackstrap molasses will deliver the most bang for your buck. The micronutrient levels are 2-3 times greater than Grandma's Robust, and the amount of potassium ranges from 10% to 400% more, depending on brand. This has probably been repeated elsewhere, but over-administering molasses can cause problems, including calcium lockout (too much K) and iron toxicity. You can use this throughout your grow, but my recommended dosage for blackstrap is 15 mL per gallon during veg every so often and 15-30 mL (1-2 Tbsp) per gallon during flowering, every watering is fine (I always water with 0 ppm 2 weeks before harvest, however). You can safely mix your nutrients with the molasses water. I hope this cleared up some of the questions about EC, pH and the micro/macro-nutrient content of molasses!
^^^^Nice! I was going to add that to my original thread but it won't allow me to edit it anymore... Did you write the above by yourself with collected info from all over the place?
Yup, everything was written by me from a hodgepodge of sources, then run through the testing gamut. That's too bad you can't edit your post... you're more than welcome to make a new thread with this info if you feel it's necessary (or I can, does not matter). Thanks leapfrog!
I've been using molasses for two White Widow plants that are close to harvest (10 days) They both have very big fat sticky buds and they smell a little bit like licorice. Is that because of the molasses or is it the strain? (I've never grown White Widow before). And some say you can use the molasses throughout flowering. Is that ok? Doesn't it affect the smoke at the end? Or should I just use pure water without molasses these last days? Is there any reason to use the molasses all the way?
I use molasses in every watering during flowering. 1 tbsp/gal only. You can use molasses safely for the entire grow, including your flushing. It wont have any effect on taste or whatnot. ~Experimentalist
Just got some of the brer rabbit unsulphered molasses, hopefully this improves my bagseed I am growing...