Adding sugar to increase yield

[Tradescantia]

I will have to say that I have never tried putting sugar in with my plants,

but I can tell you what I do know about sugar and plant growth.

I was doing work in the SE a little while ago to take care of a nasty invasive poplar infestation.

The blue smokey mountains in NC has one the highest concentrations of N soil deposition in the country, with over 7 kgs/sm of Nitrogen being deposited every year.

The poplar trees take much greater advantage of this than the native trees and have begun pushing out the locals.

So we began to add sugar to soil.

mixed it with sawdust and covered the ground over large tracts.

This was done to feed the micros in the soil that quickly ate up the excess nitrogen.

Over the last few seasons the poplars have lost their advantage and have been loosing ground to several pine spc.

 

[scruffy]

Tradescantia, that's really good information. I guess maybe the sugar and sawdust act like brown leaves and such in a compost pile. Too much of either N-rich greens, or browns, and the pile won't ever reach temperature and hold it long enough to kill harmful pathogens. I guess the N-digesting critters feed also on sugars? Really cool stuff to know...

 

[momb02]

I've heard of people using this method but I have a good method for watering your plants. Don't keep watering your plants. Make sure they look kind of droopy....a good friend an expert at growing says when they look almost dead for not watering for 2 days straight and then water them and they stand straight up with stronger stocks.

 

[Guest]

There is merit to what you say but not if you plan on feeding the plant,especially nitrogen.You dont want the medium or plant too dehydrated on a feed schedule,on a water schedule its OK.I try not to let them wilt for two days before hydration though,you're liable to lose bottom fans prematurely that way.

 

[droobear]

im sure its a dumb question, but what is R O water?

 

[PHB]

RO = reverse osmosis

PHB

 

[Guest]

Thats the smartest question I've heard in this thread,it means someone is taking my exuberance seriouisly..If you use tapwater on your plants and do well don't even hesitate,well can be majorly unbelievably improved!

 

[Barnstormer]

I get my RO water from the pure water dispencer in front of the local supermarket. I fill three 5gal jerry cans for a $1.25 each and this waters my girls for a week.

 

[Guest]

Make sure if you use one of those machines the filtering process doesnt include sodium for softening,its one of the worst things you can do to them.An R/O system and a water purification system using sodium are two entirely different things,and one will kill your girls with the quickness.

 

[Closet Funk]

Mollasses will up your yield a bit. The sugars will help pack on weight. I think flushing with mollasses in the last two weeks (swelling period) will help increase final weight.

 

[C21H30O2]

adding sugar will increase yeild if certain condtions are satisfied. its benefit comes when microrganizms ingest it giving them to energy to multiply and these organisms break down decaying matter into a form absorbable by the roots. in essence it allows the plants to absorb nutrients more easily and in most cases more rapidly but if all the nutrients are in a ready to ingest form or the micro organisms are not present the sugar will not have any effect. like everything it has a place and time. if your growing chem or adding h2o2 to your soil then you probally wont see much in the way of an increase. if your growing purely organic the increase in yeild will depend on the nutrients already present in the soil how many are in a easily absorbable form, how many need to be further broken down before they can be absorbed ect. so even in a purely organic setup there will be variation depending on the soil content.

 

[Guest]

Thank you.Damn I wish I could verbalize like that..I said earlier that I tried it and it didnt seem to increase my yield,I'm sure for one or more of the above reasons.I was wrong to flatly state blackstrap will not increase yield.Its much the same as saying higher co2 PPM levels will increase yield,co2 in and of itself will not increase your yield.Other conditions have to be satisfied for co2 enrichment to have any effect whatsoever.I obviously didnt have the correct conditions when I introduced blackstrap,and I acted like an expert when I shouldn't have.Thanks C21H3 O god whatever lol!

 

[Guest]

By the way C2,are you using 1 or 2 tbls per gallon and when in flower do you introduce it?Considering the times I tried blackstrap was several years ago,many things have changed since then!I'll have my BS by the end of the day and thats no BS lol.I'm about 30-35 days in right now.Your most excellent dissertation has motivated me.I got my blackstrap from my hydro store before,any better place to get it?

 

[C21H30O2]

By the way C2,are you using 1 or 2 tbls per gallon and when in flower do you introduce it?Considering the times I tried blackstrap was several years ago,many things have changed since then!I'll have my BS by the end of the day and thats no BS lol.I'm about 30-35 days in right now.Your most excellent dissertation has motivated me.I got my blackstrap from my hydro store before,any better place to get it?

thanks for the props. i would start low and go high as you would with any fert/supplement. it would be hard to overdo it as long as ph does not rise or lower out of the ideal range. im the type of person that thinks every strain must be learned and mastered to get the most out of it so what for one strain will not always apply to another. i do alot of controlled experiments. the sugar does not have to be blackstrap just another natural sugar (simple sugar, mono/di saccarides) another good one is succant (i think thats its name) and you can get that at any goo organic foodstore. blackstrap can be had at any decent grocery store, should be in the baking isle. just remember that it will have no effect if you dont have the right soil enviornment and even if the enviornment is great you may see varying results depending on the decomposiotion level in the soil and what nutrients are available. also keep in mind unless you do a clone to clone side by side comparison you will never no if its really helping or not.

 

[Guest]

Thanks man,are you using 1 tbls per gallon?

 

[C21H30O2]

Thanks man,are you using 1 tbls per gallon?

like i said, it depends on the strain and the setup. start at 1 tbls and monitor pH , slowly work your way up if you want to experiment. but "1" is the standard to start at.

 

[Guest]

I gotcha thanks.