Hi all, sorry to hit on the age old topic of Molasses yet AGAIN, but I've run a quick search and can't seem to find anything that touches on this specifically.

I have a quick question I'll get to after this next paragraph (skip ahead if you want)

I love Molasses, use it through my whole grow, some people say this isn't necessary, but it's so cheap, so I say why not, I can only see it helping microbial activity... Anyway, I bubble tap water for 24 hours (using the old air pump and air stones trick) then add my Molasses (plus organic nutrients) and bubble for a further 24 hours, apply it as a soil drench, works beautifully mate.

Now I find myself stumped, I use Blackstrap Molasses, purely because its what's available at my local supermarket, however it contains sulphur, which I've heard kills certain beneficial fungi in the soil. Does anyone know if there's any truth to this? Is Blackstrap Molasses fine to use or should I go in search of Unsulphured Molasses? Any info and opinions would be appreciated.

For those who aren't sure of the difference between the different types of Molasses, here's some basic info:

Unsulphured - The product left over after the FIRST extraction of sugarcane, said to be the highest quality and sweetest (contains most sugar) of Molasses.

Sulphured - The product left over after the SECOND extraction of sugarcane, said to be of lower quality and is usually treated with sulphur dioxide, which acts as a preservative.

Blackstrap - The product left over after the THIRD extraction of sugarcane, said to be the lowest quality, darkest in colour, and least sweet of the three. However it tends to have the most usable vitamins and minerals with regards to plants. (As far as I know)

This is the Molasses most easily (and cheaply ) available to me:




Thanks for any advice/opinions. I recommend Molasses to all ORGANIC soil/soiless growers.

Cheers!

Edit: Just found a thread about pretty much the same thing.
Unsulphured Molasses???

g,day mate. according to the three little birds ,who have a huge thread on this ,maybe not on r.i.u but they seem to know thier stuff ,and blackstrap is the way to go ,i get it from the health food store ,cheaper than plant shops etc ,so that is what i use ,and no problems thus far.

Cheers for the info mate. Appreciate it.

My Blackstrap is unsulphured.

Aww you lucky frocker! :P ... I've been looking for unsulphured blackstrap everywhere, it's like it doesn't exist in my country! Am going grocery shopping tonight and will destroy the supermarket till I find some! haha

So I read up on blacksrtap. It comes from the third boil and not good for much other then cattle feed, that is to say thats what its major market is. It has the least sugar content of the three. So you might try a feed store if there are any cows around your area. good luck..

Yea mate, I mentioned that above
I have Blackstrap Molasses now, but it contains sulphur, I'll look in the agriculture stores at their stuff, see if it's better, and it'll probably be in bulk, therefore cheaper and larger quantities. Haha!

Cheers for the input stumps