last few weeks of flower...bud enhancer?

[thirst4knwledge]

good follow up question. i actually use grandma's brand regular unsulphured molasses. blackstrap is better but couldnt find it at the time and bought this instead. a lot of ppl use this exact brand so dont think the difference is that much.yea 10ml/gal should be fine, and like i said keep notes throughout your cycles. at best 3 cycles is like 6months and idk about you, but i cant remember much of what i smoke 6days out, let alone a 1/2 year lol. the key to using molasses is in keeping the micro life in check. if you see a bloom on the top soil or any bad smells, flush with a lil H2O2 and let dry out as long as you can.

Great thanks for the follow up info. I'll definitely be taking notes on how this works out. I do agree agree that there isn't much of a difference between different brands of molasses whether regular or blackstrap (unsulphered, of course)...as long we adjust the dosage for each specific brand/type. Here are the nutrition facts for grandma'a unsulphered original and plantation unsulphered organic organic blackstrap.

Grandma's
Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 Tbsp
Servings Per Container 48

Amount Per Serving Calories 70 Calories from Fat 0 % Daily Value* Total Fat 0 g 0% Saturated Fat — — Trans Fat 0 g Cholesterol — — Sodium 20 mg 1% Potassium 110 mg 1% Total Carbohydrate 16 g 5% Dietary Fiber — — Sugars 14 g Protein 0 g Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 4% Calcium 0% Iron 4% Copper — Folic Acid — Iodine — Magnesium — Niacin — Phosphorus — Riboflavin — Thiamin — Vitamin B12 — Vitamin B6 — Vitamin D — Vitamin E — Zinc —

• * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Plantation

Both based on a 2000 calorie diet and 1 tbsp serving size, here are the notable differences:

Potassium: 110mg in Grandma's (from now on referred to as Gr) versus 730mg in Plantation (from now on referred to as Pl). So if I feed at the same dosage as you, my plants will be getting roughly 7 times the amount of potassium...could be good or bad, but obviously must be regulated.

Total Carbohydrate/Sugars: 16 grams total carb in Gr, of which 14g is sugars...13g total carb in Pl, of which 13g is sugars. Comparable numbers, but I'm not sure what the other 2 grams is to make total carb 16g in Gr, or if it matters. All 13g of sugars in Pl make up the total carb, nothing else.

Sodium: 20mg in Gr versus 0mg in Pl. I'm sure the fact that there isn't any sodium in Pl brand molasses is a reflection of the blackstrap process. The 20mg of sodium in Gr might be an insignificant amount (this is beyond my current knowledge), but I would assume that a certain amount of sodium is undesirable during flush. I'm pretty new to growing and I've learned a lot so far but there is much more that I don't know. Feeding your girls this might not be detrimental, but maybe they would benefit more from a blackstrap type.

Iron: 4% in Gr versus 20% in Pl. Five times the amount, not sure if it matters in a feeding regimen.

Vitamin B6: None in Gr versus 10% in Pl. I'm sure plants can use this, though again it is beyond my knowledge.

Magnesium: None in Gr versus 8% in Pl. I might have to make sure I don't dose the plants with mg to a toxic level, but this might not be an amount sufficient to cause concern.


With all of these variables in mind, I'm sure there is a different dosage for each of us that will give us our desired results. We will probably get similar results but definitely not at the same ml/gal measurement. I'll have to be careful not to overdose on mg or k, whereas some one with grandma's brand should be watching for salt buildup when feeding at high levels due to the sodium in Gr (might be insignificant amount). I would gladly use grandma's in a bind, but I'm lucky enough to have a whole foods pretty close so I even had a few brands of blackstrap to choose from. But I have noticed that plantation, wholesome sweetener's, and other brands of blackstrap are readily available on the internet.

side note on miracle grow:
i know there is a lot of misinformation and opinions on this subject, but from my own use of there products in the past, this is what i can say.
1. the salts are sourced from industrial byproducts which, to put a long story short, means the salts have a higher level of heavy metals.
2. these products are not complete nutrients. most are missing Mg, Ca, and/or a few trace elements. these products are designed for open garden beds where roots can just 'look' for more trace elements. container soil can work but you might have some deficiencies later on. hydro will fail if you dont supplement what your missing
3. a lot of the products have some time-release features that can cause complications for fast growing plants

all things aside, it will grow weed. you just need to supplement a lil here and there, it really depends on which product you use. boosters in general arent complete and are only meant to boost your base nutrient

Great info, I'm always glad to understand a little more of anything related to mj. But with the availability of nutes made for mj, why use something that isn't? I don't feel strongly about it, to each his own, but sometimes I wonder why...

 

[thirst4knwledge]

Too soon to tell! I'll get back to you in a couple weeks.

As far as HempAlchemist's comments: Miracle-Gro makes their heavy metals assay for each product available on their website. I calculate that I applied a few picograms of lead and arsenic to my garden. I like that better than an unknown quantity of lead and arsenic, which is what a lot of fert companies offer. I suspect a gallon of sulphured molasses, or for that matter my backyard soil, probably has a lot more of these contaminants, which are ubiquitous in industrialized nations.

The Bloom Booster has Mg, Ca, zinc and boron as well as NPK. It is not 100% complete but it has a lot of the main micronutrients. In my opinion there is a reason Miracle-Gro is the best selling consumer fertilizer, and it is not because they poison their customers nor produce an inferior product.

I agree that miracle grow will not poison you nor should be considered an inferior product...if you're growing roses or house plants. But I'm growing mj, so I'll go with one of the hudreds of companies who make nutes for mj (most of which are affordable and obtainable). You can stick a seed in the ground and water it to grow smokeable weed that will get you high and not harm you, but why? and why use a product made for old ladies growing roses when you can use a two part nute line with noticeably better results? I this were the 90's and you couldn't buy nutes at your local hydro store or online then it would make more sense to me. I also haven't heard of many people who would bother to use sulphured molasses nowadays considering the availability of unsulphured molasses. So if miracle gro grows weed, why not use it in a bind? Sounds fine to me. On the other side, if you're not in a bind, why use it?

 

[nugghead]

You can stick a seed in the ground and water it to grow smokeable weed that will get you high and not harm you, but why? and why use a product made for old ladies growing roses when you can use a two part nute line with noticeably better results?

Actually I did stick a seed in the ground and water it. I put the bloom booster on my roses and tomatoes too, so I had some kicking around.

Think you and I are coming from two very different places, friend. No need for us to meet in the middle. Happy growing and best of luck.

 

[thirst4knwledge]

Actually I did stick a seed in the ground and water it. I put the bloom booster on my roses and tomatoes too, so I had some kicking around.

Think you and I are coming from two very different places, friend. No need for us to meet in the middle. Happy growing and best of luck.

that sounds slightly closed-minded, friend. but hey to each his own, i'll learn elsewhere. Best of luck to you as well.

 

[HempAlchemist]

@ thirsty
yea im sure the sodium in grandma's is due to it not being blackstrap. i dont think that the amount im working with is really that big of an issue with my girls.i run only 1 strain at a time and have put 1yr+ on what im working with now, "strawberry cough." when i do switch, i start off at a "par" with my nutrient program and work from there. again the key is to have good notes on grows. as a side note there are a lot of nutrients that actually have a lil sodium in them. most wont list the %'s but if you look at the "derived from" you will see it listed.

@nugghead
actually, nutrient companies must give that kind of info out upon request, depending on where you live. most companies just have that info on there websites
for the masses but if not you can call and ask for the info. about the booster, i wasnt saying that it was bad, in fact i was saying that most boosters on the market arent complete and are basically the same. that being said your MG booster has a lot more in it then others. yours is more of a semi-complete mix for rapid blooming plants. the only things that you didnt list that is needed is manganese, molybdenum, copper and iron. these elements are needed in such small amounts that it most soils should supply these with maybe the iron being an exception.

 

[nugghead]

@nugghead
about the booster, i wasnt saying that it was bad, in fact i was saying that most boosters on the market arent complete and are basically the same. that being said your MG booster has a lot more in it then others. yours is more of a semi-complete mix for rapid blooming plants. the only things that you didnt list that is needed is manganese, molybdenum, copper and iron. these elements are needed in such small amounts that it most soils should supply these with maybe the iron being an exception.

It's actually got all those things, although the Mb level is so low that it's approaching the level of a contaminant. You can see that this product is 1.5 ppm lead and 1.5 ppm arsenic, which is a pretty low level even for organic products (which this is not.) You would not want to use it in a hydro setup or even a semi-hydro sphagnum or coco-based system as it is 100% soluble and would burn your plant very quickly.

It was also $4 for 2 lbs at Home Depot, which is probably good for 5 entire years' harvests on my scale, so if you're not made of money it can be a good inexpensive alternative.