Question about feeding sugar.

ArrOgNt RocKstAR · Thursday at 9:47 PM

When growing using only organic nutrients like Dr Earth, Gaia Green, and compost tea, should sugar like sucanat be watered into the soil during flowering, or should it be avoided, and just allow the Dr Earth/Gaia Green to do all the work?
Ive recently read that feeding sugar can cause the existing microbes to go dormant and create an imbalance.
Can someone please enlighten me on this subject?

weedstoner420 · 2025-07-11T08:35:54-0600

Sugar is a food source for soil microbes. Theoretically adding sugar or molasses or whatever to your medium will increase the microbial population.

Is this beneficial to the plant or the soil overall? Dunno. My plants usually do fine with just worm castings, tomato-tone, and water.

If you haven't already, I would suggest checking out the book Teaming With Microbes by Jeff Lowenfels. It's a pretty quick and easy read and it's a good introduction to the soil food web and interactions between soil microbes and plants (edit, I just found a PDF of it and it's almost 200 pages lol, but I swear if you're interested in this kind of stuff it will go by quickly...)

Week4@inCharge · 2025-07-11T11:01:24-0600

Seems to work but I wouldn't over do it. Maybe every two to three weeks if you have an itch to add sugar. I don't know much about Cane Sugar to make a comment on it but unsulfured blackstrap molasses seems to be the go to additive for most growers. It's loaded with Magnesium and Potassium to boot. Don't need much of it, tablespoon per watering.

ArrOgNt RocKstAR · 2025-07-11T22:47:23-0600

weedstoner420 said:
Sugar is a food source for soil microbes. Theoretically adding sugar or molasses or whatever to your medium will increase the microbial population.

Is this beneficial to the plant or the soil overall? Dunno. My plants usually do fine with just worm castings, tomato-tone, and water.

If you haven't already, I would suggest checking out the book Teaming With Microbes by Jeff Lowenfels. It's a pretty quick and easy read and it's a good introduction to the soil food web and interactions between soil microbes and plants (edit, I just found a PDF of it and it's almost 200 pages lol, but I swear if you're interested in this kind of stuff it will go by quickly...)

I'll check out that book, thanks for the recommendation.

Question about feeding sugar.

ArrOgNt RocKstAR

Well-Known Member

weedstoner420

Well-Known Member

Week4@inCharge

Well-Known Member

ArrOgNt RocKstAR

Well-Known Member

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