Molasses dosage.

Matt, thanks for the strait info man. I have just posted on a couple other threads about use of AACT with molasses and I don't wanna beat the horse to death (nice horsie) - but do you think that molasses' usefulness is mostly due to it's effect on the aerobic microherd? I believe that we all do accept that molasses does feed the microherd, and that this is a good thing...

By that standard, should we as growers add it only to a soil that we are trying to culture a microherd? That is, why add it to an already awesome soil like spanishfly's...

Or on the other hand, (as I believe) isn't it all fair game for the microherd to eat? No matter what, they are gonna churn out loads of soluble organic compounds for your roots' feast.

The only reason I could think of to NOT use the molasses is if you have a soil that's gone anaerobic - then you're boosting the nasties and you're gonna face all sorts of pH problems down the road.

IandI said:

Matt, thanks for the strait info man. I have just posted on a couple other threads about use of AACT with molasses and I don't wanna beat the horse to death (nice horsie) - but do you think that molasses' usefulness is mostly due to it's effect on the aerobic microherd? I believe that we all do accept that molasses does feed the microherd, and that this is a good thing...

By that standard, should we as growers add it only to a soil that we are trying to culture a microherd? That is, why add it to an already awesome soil like spanishfly's...

Or on the other hand, (as I believe) isn't it all fair game for the microherd to eat? No matter what, they are gonna churn out loads of soluble organic compounds for your roots' feast.

The only reason I could think of to NOT use the molasses is if you have a soil that's gone anaerobic - then you're boosting the nasties and you're gonna face all sorts of pH problems down the road.

Click to expand...

Molasses: As you point out, outdoor soils that are dialed in most likely cannot benefit from molasses, it is really just superfluous for them.
BUT most of us (this is an assumption based on my life experiences) are growing in a less than ideal soil, and we mostly run what the outdoor growers would call "soil-less" mixes. These soil-less mixes are a world apart from a conditioned outdoor soil. Our media is a mix of peat, perlite, coco, bark, and sometimes a little slow release food.

To turn this into a "real soil" much slow release food, and EWC, and some humic need to be added to the soil-less mix. Heat and time allow the microflora to thrive and turn this mix into something that the plants can live on without liquid food. This is old school organics in a nut shell.

I have ideas about feeding the microbes in a soil-less media. I think this allows the microbes to function at top levels without requiring as much from the plants in return, the exudates. The microbes get to thrive and work for the plants, but the plants are not required to pay back their fair share as the microbes are already fed.

You can let the roots feed the microbes, this probably allows the roots greater control of the microbe populations.
Or you can feed the roots and the microbes, and take control yourself.

I am a firm believer in bacteria rich AACT for veg and fungal rich AACT for flower. But that is another issue that should be discussed on my thread.

We THE YOUTH mostly run new school organics. Here is my thread on indoor vegan organics in a "soil-less" mix.

https://www.rollitup.org/organics/364864-vegan-organics-professor-matt-veganics.html

Here is my thread on everything else new school:

https://www.rollitup.org/organics/370730-new-school-organics-professor-matt.html

What does Organic Soil-less Mean? And Why Do We Use Molasses? Part 1

Molasses is commonly used by medical Cannabis gardeners, indoors and outside. The use of molasses is highly controversial on the ganja forums. We all agree that molasses is great for brewing ACTs and AACTs (Active Aerated Compost Teas). Molasses use, beyond food source for microbes in teas, is still a debate.

Old school outdoor organic folks grow in the ground, or in an aged and conditioned True Soil. These folk are wise, but often limited in regards to advanced indoor soil-less cultivation. The old school growers claim "molasses has no affect at all on yield or flavor". They may be correct with regard to their style of growing. We'll get to that soon.

Most of us, the medical Cannabis cultivators, cultivate our medicine indoors for various reasons. We use something that is called an "organic soil-less" media in our pots (containers).
To understand how molasses is used indoors we must understand a few things.

1) What is a "soil-less" media?
2) Why is everyone using soil-less instead of soil?
3) And how does soil-less media affect beneficial soil life and the soil-food-web (organics)?
then...
4) What is molasses?
5) What are root exudates?
6) What does molasses do in a soil-less media?
7) Possible downside to using molasses...?
8 ) Do you use molasses during the flush?

1) What is an Organic Soil-less media:


Growing plants in containers without soil can be split into two categories.

A) True Hydroponics, aka liquid culture: A nutrient solution is recirculated with food (usually synthetic) and this feeds the roots to make our precious flowers.
B) True Soil-less, aka aggregate culture : A nutrient solution is supplied to plants by watering through the media, and either drained-to-waste, or reused.


Soil-less grow media has often been called hydroponics. But that is not exactly correct. Nutri-culture has been suggested to be a more accurate term for various forms of soil-less growing. And soil-less growing itself is separated into: Inorganic Media and Organic Media. Inorganic Media is also farther separated into Natural Media and Synthetic Media.


THE MEDIAS EXPLAINED:


True Hydroponics: circulating solutions, aeroponics, static solutions


Aggregate System -> Inorganic Media (Hydroponics) -> Natural Media: sand, gravel, rockwool, perlite, vermiculite, pumice, expanded clay.

Aggregate System -> Inorganic Media (Hydroponics) -> Synthetic Media: oasis, hydrogel, foam mats (PET) and (PUR)

Aggregate System -> Organic Media: Peat, Sawdust, Bark, Cocofiber (the non-soil dirts).

So I am growing in an Organic Media (BioTerra Plus), mostly peat, coco, and bark. But the majority of indoor growers are using perlite, which would technically make that media a combination of soil-less organic media and soil-less inorganic natural media. BOOM.

Next up: Why are the majority of indoor growers using soil-less organic media?

source -> http://ressources.ciheam.org/om/pdf/c31/CI020854.pdf
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[FONT=&quot]The science is still out on the use of molasses, however there is far to much first hand information to not consider it. Molasses to boost soil microbial activity has been talked about for many decades and the theory has been that it provides an energy source for microbes that can be utilized equally well by all soil organisms.
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[FONT=&quot]However, field applications that have been studied have not tended to produce many convincing responses. For instance, Recent research by SWEP laboratories, has begun to shed light on this issue by looking at soil biology from a balance perspective (according to the principles of the Mikhail System) that has shown some significant effects on soil biology, but are now finding that the soilfoodweb is much more complex than expected - something Dr. Elaine Ingham (www.soilfoodweb.com) could have told them many years ago. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Results of these studies appear to indicate that the lowest application rates work best for fungi and cellulose utilizers, while some bacteria showed the opposite response, with activity increasing as the application rate increased. So BALANCE is the prerequisite to consider, involving the type of microbes you want to supply, based on what you are attempting to accomplish.
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[FONT=&quot]With regard to feeding compost tea microbe population (liquid environment, not solids), in my opinion there is no equal in the field, to Dr. Ingham. However, tea must be aerated and fed more than just molasses to accomplish such objective effectively.[/FONT]