Are you looking for a natural way to grow your cannabis plants? Molasses can be a great option for you. These are often overlooked by cannabis growers, but molasses are actually filled with many nutrients that can help your plant grow in a healthy way. Aside from that, molasses can also have the ability to increase the quality of soil, which is a strong component and a foundation of how great your yield will be.
Additionally, molasses can protect your marijuana plants from further problems like helping beat the build-up of salt in your plant and repelling pests that can kill your vegetation. Here are the most important pieces of information that you should know about the role of molasses in cannabis cultivation.
What are Molasses?
Also known as black treacle, molasses are a dark-colored highly viscous substance that is created during sugar refining processes. It is produced after sugar beet juice, or sugar cane is boiled into a thick syrup. The remaining syrup after the sugar has produced crystals are what we call as molasses. There are various molasses available in the market. Basically, they vary from the extraction processes and the levels of their sweetness.
Frequently, you will see molasses taken from sugar cane being used as a flavoring for food and as beverage sweeteners. On the other hand, molasses taken from sugar beets are unpalatable and have an unfavorable aroma. This particular variant is normally used as an additive for animal feeds.
Even as people consider molasses for growing, take note that this is not possible for all kinds. Some low-quality molasses can come with unwanted additives, like chemicals and preservatives that no one would want to have in their garden. If you want to try to use molasses in your cannabis garden, make sure that you look for organic ones.
Sulfured vs Unsulfured Molasses
All types of molasses are usually found to contain traces of sulfur, but molasses extracted from sugar cane can have sulfur dioxide added, and they are the ones tagged as sulfured. Sulfur dioxide is used as a preservative and an agent to beat microbes to make sure that raw cane remains fresh before processing. However, sulfur dioxide comes with an unwanted side-effect that can make it unsuitable for growing cannabis plants. Sulfur dioxide can kill some helpful microorganisms in the soil, so you should ensure that you look for molasses that are both organic and unsulfured.
Types of Molasses
There are about four different grades and types of molasses that you can choose from. The lighter colored ones are pure sugarcane syrup. Darker molasses are also available. The third one is called blackstrap molasses which are thicker and darker than other types. This type has undergone multiple boiling and extraction processes, which means that it has the highest concentration of macroelements, microelements, calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, and important vitamins.
Why Are Molasses Helpful for Cannabis Cultivation
When checking for the most important factors for a healthy growing experience, the soil is one of the things you would arguably mention. Soil with good quality will come with an abundance of phosphorus, nitrogen, minerals like calcium, potassium, and iron, and other essential compounds. The presence of these mentioned compounds is important for consistent healthy growth.
But, even if your soil has the presence of all of these essential compounds, minerals, chemicals, and other substances are not enough to assure a great growing experience. Microorganisms that are there in the soil are very important to make sure that there is a healthy ecosystem enjoyed by your plant.
This is where molasses come in. It serves as the perfect food for the microorganisms in the soil, and it allows these things an ideal atmosphere to survive. Using molasses as a supplement means that basically, what you are doing is not feeding your plants, but feeding the soil that is the foundation of your plants.
The Benefits of Using Molasses in Growing Cannabis Plants
- Molasses act as a natural insecticide against pests that infest the cannabis plants.
- Molasses help minimize the risk of having salt in the soil that will bring further nutrition problems.
- Molasses help in preventing the development of pathogens that can bring harm to cannabis plants.
- Molasses enrich the soil with its vitamin and mineral content.
- Molasses improves the overall structure and water retention in the soil.
- Molasses serves as the feed of microorganisms that are important to the soil.
- According to some growers, adding molasses make the cannabis produce stickier buds.
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