Molasses, Yellow Fan Leaves, and Pruning

Well this is an interesting one that I don't think really needs pictures because it's not a problem so much as a general question.

Here's what happened:
I fed my eldest plant some molasses (1 tbsp per gallon) and all the fan leaves turned yellow. On a younger plant the same thing happened but only the really big fan leaves turned, the leaves on the growth shoots were fine for the most part with maybe a minor fan leaf on the bottom turning yellow.

So after a few days of them not going back to green I pulled them all off on the oldest plant and over night the buds grew like crazy!

This plant is about ready for harvest as I'm seeing maybe 5% amber trichomes, I give it a week tops, so the question is:

Did the plant grow because I took off non-productive leaves or is this a normal growth spurt?

mine did the same thing when i first started molasses but a couple days later the budz swelled up good so i dunno

Oh yeah, I guess I should add in the molasses to the equation. I negated it because it was clearly the cause of the yellow leaves. I noticed it happening any time I feed with molasses so I stopped but this was the plant's next to last feeding so I wanted to give it a boost. I think in the future I'll try decreasing the amount to 1 teaspoon per gallon and see if the plants like that better.

i ended up at about half a teaspoon per gallon also make sure your nutes dont have alot of potassium

Yeah, I'm using the organic Botanicare, Pure Blend Pro, so they are mild.

Kludge said:

Oh yeah, I guess I should add in the molasses to the equation. I negated it because it was clearly the cause of the yellow leaves. I noticed it happening any time I feed with molasses so I stopped but this was the plant's next to last feeding so I wanted to give it a boost. I think in the future I'll try decreasing the amount to 1 teaspoon per gallon and see if the plants like that better.

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Hey Kludge. I think the yellowing is natural and the timing of the molasses is a coincidence. Molasses is organic. I use 2 tbl a gallon and my plant had nice buds. I also used it all during flowering with no side effects.

i have used it on every watering on a few grows, veg and flower. what brand of molasses do you have? is it unsulphered? i too also think it was a coincidence

GarryFroker said:

Hey Kludge. I think the yellowing is natural and the timing of the molasses is a coincidence. Molasses is organic. I use 2 tbl a gallon and my plant had nice buds. I also used it all during flowering with no side effects.

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Same here. 2tbs/gal why crimp on the sweet stuff.

The days are getting shorter & shorter. I've got some plants that the fan leaves are turning yellow that haven't been started on the molasses yet.

The fan leaves arent turning yellow because of the molasses. theyre turning yellow due to lack of nitrogen

Im in the flowering stage and I used molasses through veg into flowering.

The leaves started yellowing but its completely natural, its at the end of its life cycle and its not worried about its leave production its focused on its bud protection. Any leaf that yellows away its just putting its juices into your buds (in my opinion, not positive) and its creating more sunlight

Yeah, I've seen the yellowing before in a natural way but two plants turned yellow after the molasses (Brer Rabbit Unsulphured Black Strap) and before that some plants in veg turned yellow immediately after feeding with molasses so I'm pretty sure it wasn't just a coincidence.

So in my case I probably just need to decrease the amount of molasses I'm using.

bterz said:

The fan leaves arent turning yellow because of the molasses. theyre turning yellow due to lack of nitrogen.

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Well my guess is you're both right and wrong. The molasses itself isn't causing the yellowing but, as you've said, it's the lack of nitrogen. And that's what the molasses is doing, blocking the uptake of nitrogen. Or at least that's my guess.

kludge.... did you notice brown spots on the yellow leaves as necrosis sets in? take a look at my journal. most recent pics. happened to my last grow. definitely from a deficiency, but I too have been going through stages of leaf loss followed by increased bud production.

Kludge said:

Well my guess is you're both right and wrong. The molasses itself isn't causing the yellowing but, as you've said, it's the lack of nitrogen. And that's what the molasses is doing, blocking the uptake of nitrogen. Or at least that's my guess.

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Molasses aids in the intake of N and other nutes. I just clipped off 4 huge fan leaves that were yellow and my plant is in the first week of flowering. Again Molasses is organic, it won't give you nute burn. Well, it might mess up your plant if you pour a 12 oz bottle every other day.

drumsinttown said:

kludge.... did you notice brown spots on the yellow leaves as necrosis sets in? take a look at my journal. most recent pics. happened to my last grow. definitely from a deficiency, but I too have been going through stages of leaf loss followed by increased bud production.

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There was necrosis on the normally yellowing leaves but not on the insta-yellow leaves. Also no spots. They looked like normal leaves just with all the chlorophyll sucked out. I guess pictures WOULD be important here but I've already trimmed the plant.

Here's what it looks like today. The way it's growing is interesting, it's sideways, its girth is increasing. I can see all these new shoots of bud growth coming out of the bud. I'll let it keep growing till it stops.




And here's a close up of all 5 colas.

if your plants are flowering then it is a natural process for the leaves to go yellow.
as to the molasses blocking the nitrogen ..phhhht is all i can say to that ..i use molasses all through my grow and check the avatar does it look like it is nitrogen deficient.
molasses wont stop nutrient uptake unless like most organic products it is severely over done.......think people think...

Kludge said:

Here's what it looks like today. The way it's growing is interesting, it's sideways, its girth is increasing. I can see all these new shoots of bud growth coming out of the bud. I'll let it keep growing till it stops.

And here's a close up of all 5 colas.

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Very nice. Yeah, I wouldn't worry. That's just natural yellowing. Great job.

Yeah, I'm at a lose at this point. I'll just have to keep my eye on it but just in case I'm chucking that bottle of molasses and getting a new one.