# Alternative to Molasses



## mattman (Dec 10, 2007)

Okay, i went to my local health food store, and we have a "local" product here, its called Agave Nectar

its 100% Pure Sweetener and its organic

Calories: 60
Fat: 0
Sodium: 0
Carbs: 16g 
Sugars: 15g
Dietary fiber: 1g
Protein: 0g


Was wondering If i could use this like molasses, says you can mix it in water and it will dissolve with no problems.


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## Father Jack (Dec 10, 2007)

why not just get unsulphered molasses? It has mag, Cal, and iron along with the sugar carbs. There's more to molasses than some carbs.

Drink!


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## chronicle (Dec 11, 2007)

you didnt list the percentages of nutrients it contains. my bottle of organic unsulphered molasses contains:

730mg potassium
115mg calcium
8% magnesium
14% iron 
14g of carbs

the guy above me with the weird avatar is right  molasses is alot more than just carbs. make sure your nutrient is supplying adequate potash/cal/mag. id stick with molasses or biogrow from biobiz.


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## MrIntricate (Dec 11, 2007)

Anything with a high sucrose content (ie sugar, molasses, maple syrup, etc) will suffice. All the minerals etc are really overkill. In the latter phase of flowering, when you are adding molasses, you don't really want to add any more nutes anyways. Nectars should do nicely. It may even produce an interesting flavor. That is the basic idea behind "flavoring" your pot. Your plant will absorb the flavoring through the sugars.


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## mattman (Dec 11, 2007)

well honestly, I am very misinformed on the subject of molasses, i just know you feed it to your plant 2-3 weeks before the chop right? Or is it before you start flushing? Anyways I am going to check up on the bottle of the nectar i have and see the nutrient contents..

once again thanks everyone


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## Father Jack (Dec 11, 2007)

mattman said:


> well honestly, I am very misinformed on the subject of molasses, i just know you feed it to your plant 2-3 weeks before the chop right? Or is it before you start flushing? Anyways I am going to check up on the bottle of the nectar i have and see the nutrient contents..
> 
> once again thanks everyone


You can use the molasses all the way through. It feeds the micro herd...which other products that contain lots of sugars do not do. MJ is a Mag hog...and adding the molasses with your feedings does add a little extra mag along with the carbs. I even add cal-mag with every feeding. The flowering plants love it.

And don't expect a change in flavor as an earlier post suggested....but you most likely will notice a frostier plant.

Drink!


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## scias (Dec 11, 2007)

i was going to do a test grow with that actually. sugars type additives are great in organics because there's a bacteria in many organic soils called myrozhium or something to that effect that forms a symbiotic relationship with the plant. the bacteria enters the root system and helps increase uptake of vital nutrients while preventing disease, and helps grow healthy roots. in return the plant provides the bacteria with sugars. when you add a sugar type supplement (ie molasses) you help feed the beneficial bacteria while letting the plant utilize the sugars it produces to develop even healthier growth. this is a more in depth reason as to why molasses and carboloads work so well.


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## MrIntricate (Dec 18, 2007)

Scias, does this only hold true for soil or will this translate to hydro as well?


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## scias (Dec 20, 2007)

i would assume its only in soil applications. myhroccia bacteria or whatever its called would most likely not thrive in hydro setups. this is assuming you mean a purely hydro application where no soil medium is involved, such as deep water culture


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## potroast (Dec 21, 2007)

I was thinking of trying mycorrhizae in my hydro system, although I grow in slabs, so there is ample dense media for critters to live. But as I understand it, once the plant has roots established, you pour the mycorrhize solution over the roots only once. The critters jump onto the roots and go to work.

HTH


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## bicycle racer (Mar 31, 2008)

never use mollases in hydro unless you want a foamy bacterial mess. the vitamins and minerals found in mollases is one of the main reasons it is used as opposed to table sugar which is nutritionally useless. trace elements found in mollases are good for the plant. the carbohydrates are mainly used by the microbial populations in the soil which in turn keep roots healthy and keep undesirable anerobic bacteria from getting a foothold. as the experts say feed the soil not the plant. if your soil is not healthy your plant will not do well. i would stick with mollases over other sources of sugar none have the nutritional value or trace minerals that mollases contain.


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