Brown sugar as a substitute for molasses’s
- Thread starter Matar86
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Molasses from amazon prime bro!
Luvtheflower
Member
Wal-Mart carries mother Hubbard blackstrap molasses at about $2.48 for 16 ounce jar.Works really well for those who have access to Wal-Mart.
Zephyrs
Well-Known Member
Really un-sulphered black strap molasses is the only way. The regular brown sugar your talking about, had been stripped of all the trace nutrients that black strap has. Basically brown sugar is a more refined sugar/carb. Now if you can get your hands on some Non-pasturized Coconut water! Then your in business. Coconut water has more natural carbohydrates and trace minerals than BSM. Plus it contains cytokinins, which will multiply roots growth exponentially. Black strap doesn't contain cytokinins. It's a real thing.
Don't get angry, but I just have to ask. How is adding sugar to your soil beneficial? Molasses has a much better use in homemade baked beans that you can eat by the campfire at night after a long day hunting. And my wife would kill me if I even used canned crappy coconut water for my plants because she's on this urinary health kick for some crazy reason now. Lol
Zephyrs
Well-Known Member
Won't get angry at simple ignorance. Read how microbes use the carbohydrates from molasses. To help facilitate easier, the uptake of nutrients by the microbial exchange. I am not a microbial scientist. But read. Learn soil microbes. And what it does for plants. Basically the microbes will benefit from BSM. It's really not a secret. Pretty well known among organic gardeners. Just saying
Zephyrs
Well-Known Member
And I also use it in my baked beans too. Because its trace minerals are also good for the human body!
Yeah I must admit I'm ignorant because those were a lot of big words up there! But let's break this down the way a person educated in science would:
1. We both know that microbes will go for the low overhanging fruit first - the easiest sugar/carb to break down via enzymes. Sugar will make the bacteria multiply quickly to form a population spike, in the process stealing whatever form of mineralized N that they can get their little paws on. This may or may not adversely affect your plants (N drop) depending on how much sugar you added. But the bacteria will quickly drop in population once the food is gone anyway.
2. Our plants go to a lot of trouble to signal bacteria and feed them carbohydrates through their exudates. Over 30% of the photosynthetic energy is used to sequester carbon for this purpose alone: TO MAKE SUGAR FOR BACTERIA! If you grow 1 pound of cannabis biomass, it's released at least 1 pound of sugar into the soil. But it's not simply sugar. It has all sorts of other components, some of them are even signaling proteins that affect bacteria and other microbiol life within the rhizosphere. Don't interfere with this process and screw it up.
3. It's much better to add more "difficult" carbohydrate sources like cellulose with lignin that have some N in their structure. That way the bacteria will get at least some of the N from the additive, yet will not create population spikes that tie up nitrogen for no good reason.
4. The carbon in sugar form has not been shown to be particularly stable when bacteria eat it after stealing your nitrogen. Meaning most of the C goes up your exhaust fan outside in the form of CO2. This is not a good strategy to build soil or establish our nice "humus layer" we organic growers strive to do.
Zephyrs
Well-Known Member
You do realize there are a few different classifications of "Carbon", right?
Autofire
Well-Known Member
Why does the coconut water need to be unpasteurized?Really un-sulphered black strap molasses is the only way. The regular brown sugar your talking about, had been stripped of all the trace nutrients that black strap has. Basically brown sugar is a more refined sugar/carb. Now if you can get your hands on some Non-pasturized Coconut water! Then your in business. Coconut water has more natural carbohydrates and trace minerals than BSM. Plus it contains cytokinins, which will multiply roots growth exponentially. Black strap doesn't contain cytokinins. It's a real thing.
Yes, I know if I steal my wife's diamond ring and bury it, the chances it will decay in time of me getting caught are very slim. Lol
(Honestly I have no idea what you're talking about. However obviously I was talking about the carbon in carbohydrates.)
Okay thanks. I just thought it might be relevant to the OP's question, because if adding sugar to your soil is not effective or beneficial then the OP shouldn't worry about it and just not add any of it
Zephyrs
Well-Known Member
Theres enough information about soil biology, that stacked on top of each it would be as tall as Mount freaking Everest. Lots o Peeps don't understand that under the surface In a living soil wi roots. It's a fuckin microbial Disco party down there, as long as your temperature is right.
I'm assuming because the heating of coconut water to kill potentially pathogenic bacteria might also denature some enzymes that are supposedly beneficial by untwisting and breaking up the proteins they're made of. Have you climbed a coconut tree lately? Do they grow in your area?
Zephyrs
Well-Known Member
The pasturized coconut water has depleted/cooked out so to say, of all the trace and micro nutes like iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium, and phosphorus. Which is full of cytokinins also. And No I never climbed a coconut tree, only apple trees. And I can't even find an imported fresh coconut in my area. Just one brand of coconut water.
Autofire
Well-Known Member
That makes sense. I put coconut water in my very first grow but haven't worried about it since then
Normally the temperature of pasteurization (and even at much higher temperatures like in a pressure cooker) is below that which would vaporize metal compounds like iron, calcium, etc. into the air, especially with moisture present. You can get that into the air from welding things like steel though. But that's ridiculously way hotter than sterilization temperatures.
