molasses is kinda fun in a living soil ecosystem. its got all the "impurities" that get taken out of sugarcane to make refined white sugar. this includes
potassium, iron, nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, b vitamins, zinc, copper, boron, molybdenum, etc etc etc... these may sound familiar. they are in every broad spectrum fertilizer ever made. it's what plants crave!
it also has complex carbohydrates (sugars) to feed microbes and fungus in the soil that turn ammonia into nitrogen your plants can use, and convert decaying veg matter into nutrition for your roots. in a living soil ecosystem molasses realyl livens up the pary, pleases earthworms and adds many trace elements your plant wants but sometimes just cant get. how to tell the real deal from the bullshit? SULPHUR! unsulphured molasses is tastier in the kitchen, and thus cheaper due to economies of scale, but plants NEED sulphur. if the molasses your being offered has the sulphur removed then its BULLSHIT. good old fashioned REAL Blackstrap Molasses will make your plants happier. unsulphured molasses is a new invention, and doesnt help your plants by having less sulphur. how curious that Botanicare sells molasses which should contain sulphur, but thiers has none, and then sells "sweet" which is simply cane sugar syrup with sulphur and magnesium added. hmmmm how strange.
i looked at botanicare's line and it doesnt seem very well thought out. much of it is contradictory to established plant knowledge, and they look like they make most of their cheddar off nonsense products like overpriced simple syrup (sugar is like 75 cents a pound you know...) and ruinously expensive molasses ($1.99 a quart at safeway $8 from botanicare both are unsulphured) real blackstrap molasses with the sulphur intact is a specialty item now, and can be hard to find. when i do use molasses i use brer rabbit (sulphurless $1.99 a quart and delicious on flapjacks) and let my other fertilizers bring the sulphur.
thier ludicrous claims that "sweet" can add scents and flavours to your buds is riddonkulous. the only way to add flavours to a plant is to expose the plant tissues you want flavoured to the appropriate flavour molecules! i grow my cherry tomatoes for my personal consumption surrounded with basil in one pot, and lemon thyme in the other. those tomatoes do in fact take on the flavours of the plants that surround them with their volatile oils, and once ripe they retain those flavours for a few days. after that time has passed the flavours dissipate which is why you cant BUY tomatoes with these tastes, but can only get them from the people who grow them themselves. its lovely though. if you grow tomatoes and herbs, put them in very close proximity. youll love the taste. ony the tomatoes which ripen in amongst the foliage of the basil or thyme will get the flavour though. its not systemic to the plant, and simply will never be. the plant's tissues and root systems are an elaborate series of filters to protect the fruit flowers and seeds from whats in the soil and water. thats why you can fertilize roses with horse shit, and they STILL SMELL LIKE ROSES! grow roses in a dense cluster of strongly scented herbs and your roses may smell different for a few days after they are picked. i cant think of any plant with a strong enough smell to overpower the scent of dope even for a few minutes. for years people have experimented with all manner of stupid shit, like spraying buds with kool aid, or grape juice and all they got was bud rot, and bugs.
