what do u use to sweeten your buds?

budman111 said:

A plant can only uptake about 16 elements...

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Funny that this reply was widely ignored...

Cannabis roots can only take in some very specific micro and macro nutrients and minerals via its roots. Here is the list:

MACRO
Nitrogen
Phosphorus
Potassium
Calcium
Magnesium
Sulfur

MICRO
Boron
Copper
Chloride
Iron
Manganese
Molybdenum
Zinc

MICRO BENEFICIAL (not required)
Sodium
Silicon
Cobalt

and if you want to get technical roots also assimilate water and air so you need to add:
Carbon
Hydrogen
Oxygen


I dont see a lot of sugars, carbohydrates, amino acids etc etc etc, on that list. But we know cannabis uses these in its cell building process right? Of course they do. But they dont come from the roots, they come from photosynthesis. So when you buy these "sweets", what you are actually buying is products that will feed the microbes, which in turn produce the above nutrients with their waste products.

Im not a scientist, but i know 100% that my herb tastes way better and ripens faster when i use these so called snake oils. Everyone does it the way they like and are accustom to. I'm sure all of you guys grow some heady weed, seeing as we're all on RIU to better our crops. I guess my question is why would they sell products such as amino acids, silicates, carbs, etc. etc. If they did absolutely nothing? I understand plants need macro and micro nutrients, but to say thats ALL they need and cannot benefit from any additives? I don't know about that. I have taken the natural, organic route before, and have MANY friends that do the same. My synthetic, steroid weed, always comes out better than any organics I have ever seen. Just my personal experience.

i would be interested in somone using molasses and it actually showing a difference, i really dont know the answer to this question but i would say its alot of hoopla, the reason they make these products is the same reason they make anything, cause theres always people dumb enough to buy them the saying ''theres a sucker born every minute'' is really true in this day and age. best of luck

penguinking said:

Im not a scientist, but i know 100% that my herb tastes way better and ripens faster when i use these so called snake oils. Everyone does it the way they like and are accustom to. I'm sure all of you guys grow some heady weed, seeing as we're all on RIU to better our crops. I guess my question is why would they sell products such as amino acids, silicates, carbs, etc. etc. If they did absolutely nothing? I understand plants need macro and micro nutrients, but to say thats ALL they need and cannot benefit from any additives? I don't know about that. I have taken the natural, organic route before, and have MANY friends that do the same. My synthetic, steroid weed, always comes out better than any organics I have ever seen. Just my personal experience.

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So you are saying the snake oils over ride the genetics of the plant when it comes too ripening time. And the sell them because the unsuspecting buy them. There probably is a place and time for some of those products. Just not what all marketing says is true. Just around here they are used for the wrong reasons.

blacksun said:

There most certainly are additives that are not just NPK that do actually do something to plants.

Some do drastic things, like PGR's, for example.

And sure, all a plant needs is NPK, but why not give the plant more than it needs so it can grow better than just the bare minimum...

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there are actually 16 macro micro nutrients essential to a plants process's . . . . . . .

akula said:

Funny that this reply was widely ignored...

Cannabis roots can only take in some very specific micro and macro nutrients and minerals via its roots. Here is the list:

MACRO
Nitrogen
Phosphorus
Potassium
Calcium
Magnesium
Sulfur

MICRO
Boron
Copper
Chloride
Iron
Manganese
Molybdenum
Zinc

MICRO BENEFICIAL (not required)
Sodium
Silicon
Cobalt

and if you want to get technical roots also assimilate water and air so you need to add:
Carbon
Hydrogen
Oxygen


I dont see a lot of sugars, carbohydrates, amino acids etc etc etc, on that list. But we know cannabis uses these in its cell building process right? Of course they do. But they dont come from the roots, they come from photosynthesis. So when you buy these "sweets", what you are actually buying is products that will feed the microbes, which in turn produce the above nutrients with their waste products.

Click to expand...

actually you are half right, some of these are absorbed as they are, most are converted into more refined elements at the root zone, yadda yadda, for every macro micro nutrient their will be a specific recepter to at the rhizo zone fo the roots to accept that derived element . . .some process in the roots will allow for larger molecules to be absorbed . . . . its not as simple as pu tin soil and plant do . . there is a process the breaking down and making available nutrients so the roots can absorb them

same with sugars they feed other things that make beneficial nutrients and bacteria for your plant, using products that increase brix a measurable term, is not a snake oil recipe . . . . lmfao . .

there are a lot of things not on that list that a plant can absorb pgr's, hormones, growth auxins . .so your its not on the list so its useless argument is moot

Samwell Seed Well said:

actually you are half right, some of these are absorbed as they are, most are converted into more refined elements at the root zone, yadda yadda,

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What? These are not converted into anything "else" or something "more refined". These are are basic elements that have been broken down previously in some process most likely, but they are the exact elements a plant needs to survive (other then the beneficials which are only extras).

http://scidiv.bellevuecollege.edu/rkr/biology213/lectures/pdfs/Nutrients213.pdf

My guess is you have a level of understanding of how organic gardening works and you are confusing the break down process that makes these nutrients available, like decay. This is they only way I can reason you even making this next statement;

Samwell Seed Well said:

for every macro micro nutrient their will be a specific recepter to at the rhizo zone fo the roots to accept that derived element . . .some process in the roots will allow for larger molecules to be absorbed . . . . its not as simple as pu tin soil and plant do . . there is a process the breaking down and making available nutrients so the roots can absorb them

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What process allows for "larger molecules" to "be absorbed"? I am interested in this because I have never heard of the process.

Samwell Seed Well said:

same with sugars they feed other things that make beneficial nutrients and bacteria for your plant, using products that increase brix a measurable term, is not a snake oil recipe . . . . lmfao . .

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Everybody is pretty much in agreement that these "sugar" products have one purpose, to feed the microbes. Did you miss the part that I stated the exact same?

So when you buy these "sweets", what you are actually buying is products that will feed the microbes, which in turn produce the above nutrients with their waste products.

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The only problem you have is thinking that feeding the microbes sugar will then produce more sugar from the waste products. This is just not true. The waste products are the micro and macro nutrients I listed. "sugars" inside cannabis are produced through photosynthesis.

Samwell Seed Well said:

there are a lot of things not on that list that a plant can absorb pgr's, hormones, growth auxins . .so your its not on the list so its useless argument is moot

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Again WTF are you talking about? You want to expand on the point of how hormones inside the plant can be fed back to the plant via the roots? Its not even logical. Again the only thing I can think of here is that you have confused using hormones on plant cuttings. You do realize that that has absolutely nothing to do with what we are talking about right? But if you buy expensive hormones and try to feed them to your plants via the root system, I would love to see your logic as to why. I am not claiming anything here other then I have never seen any studies or research to show any benefit that they can be simply assimilated via the roots.

**EDIT. OK never-mind. I did find a study where they did actually achieve root absorption with some PBR's in tomato plants. Of course I wouldn't have the tools necessary to replicate this. Maybe you do.

was doing bud candy which I noticed a little, recently switched to SUGAR DADDY by technaflora

budman111 said:

Exactly. If you have ever smelled a "sugar" burning you will know you certainly don't want to smoke it.

Sugar based products are for feeding beneficial bacteria micro herds. Some companies add things like cranberry flavours and are total bullshit aimed at the pockets of noobs.

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wish i could like this 5 more times....+ rep man couldnt have said it better myself

Go with ogreb's method he's steering you in the right direction

Alexander Supertramp said:

So you are saying the snake oils over ride the genetics of the plant when it comes too ripening time. And the sell them because the unsuspecting buy them. There probably is a place and time for some of those products. Just not what all marketing says is true. Just around here they are used for the wrong reasons.

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@alex
genetics most certainly play THE key role in ripening times. I have done a side by side comparison with a friend of mine who gives me all my cuts. (he uses the exact same phenos) and I have noticed that along with elemental symmetry ( same temps, RH, lighting, etc.) I have found additives that helped ripen up my buds quicker than his. Thats all. I do believe that a lot of nutrient companies have great marketing strategies, but the proof is in the pudding. This is a support community for like-minded peeps. Im not saying that anyone is wrong in their practices. Just sharing what has worked for me.

antimatt3r said:

was doing bud candy which I noticed a little, recently switched to SUGAR DADDY by technaflora

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Same bullshit - different label.

Being able to sweeten ur bud is a myth. The makeup of the plant determines the taste and smell. Bud sweeteners are snake oil.

a lot of growers do a 24/7 veg. i hear this robbs your plants of being able to produce the carbs they use during flowering. do a test run with a 20/4 cycle and see the taste difference. Ive always notices the plants dont grow that much faster under 24/7 veg and when i had problems an 18/6 always fixed stuff

it's all in the dna

kgp said:

I was hitting on the topic that these plants can flourish with basic NPK

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You don't really mean that, do you? Good luck growing a quality crop in an inert medium with only NPK and no micro-nutes, or the other 3 macros.

grow a healthy plant and then starve it (try to get her to start fading 3 weeks prior harvest), thats how you get sweet buds

Endur0xX said:

grow a healthy plant and then starve it (try to get her to start fading 3 weeks prior harvest), thats how you get sweet buds

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Man, I've tried that before, and I see a huge reduction in bud growth if I don't run the full cycle of nutes, especially the last 2 weeks of prime time.

Are you relating to soil, or are you figuring in hydro as well? I run hydro and to do it right, the last 2 weeks just go absolutely nuts if they have the right nute mix.

Endur0xX said:

grow a healthy plant and then starve it (try to get her to start fading 3 weeks prior harvest), thats how you get sweet buds

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to long to go with out nutes. jmo. I'll wait 6-5 days and just give water then chop.

akula said:

I dont see a lot of sugars, carbohydrates, amino acids etc etc etc, on that list. But we know cannabis uses these in its cell building process right? Of course they do. But they dont come from the roots, they come from photosynthesis. So when you buy these "sweets", what you are actually buying is products that will feed the microbes, which in turn produce the above nutrients with their waste products.

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This article also seems to support that. And if you stimulate the microbes, then you should probably get better growth. Thus it is easy to see results with a carbohydrate additive. Does it sweeten it? Dunno - I would rather find a naturally tasty strain as well. But again, since the carbs really feed the microbes, it doesn't seem likely because the microbes are doing what they already do only better.