jonnynobody
Well-Known Member
I read an article where molasses was recommended for hydro. Everywhere else I read said don't. I thought what the hell. The general hydroponics flora nectar @ $60/gallon is very expensive. $17.92 for a gallon of high brix molasses seemed like a steal of a deal. Let me first say the plants did not suffer any harm from the molasses. However, if I had not discontinued after 2 weeks of application I would be telling a different story.
I began noticing a foul odor coming from the root zone. I use 35% H202 @ 3ml/gallon in my holding reservoirs for sterility. Still something bad was growing in my hempy reservoirs in each bucket. No ill signs on the plant, but who knows what it was doing to my roots. I discontinued and decided a thorough flush in the basement utility sink with the garden hose was in order before I did my next water-in with fertilizer. I ran the hose for almost 10 minutes per bucket before the PPM came out the bottom close to what was going in at the top. Absolutely nasty build up and accumulation of crap like I have never seen in my hempy buckets. It was a 4 1/2 hour ugly process working 1 tent at a time. I cleaned the nasty residue from the bottoms and sides of my bucket where they had been sitting in a shallow sludge of molasses and water with god knows what horrible bacteria. Scrubbed, washed, and cleaned all of my drip trays. Cleaned each tent with hot water and soap. Dried with bath towels. Watered each plant thoroughly with 2 gallons of fertilized water to saturate the medium with fertilized water eliminating any tap water residual.
All I can say is if you are thinking of trying molasses in your water to waste hydro system. Just say no. My back is killing me and I definitely had better things to do with my afternoon, but doing nothing about a mistake is never an option. I will be ordering the 6 gallon container of flora nectar for $164 when my 1 gallon runs out. Slightly over $25/gallon I can live with. $60/gallon is a through and through raping. It works great and does not cause the issues molasses did.
I began noticing a foul odor coming from the root zone. I use 35% H202 @ 3ml/gallon in my holding reservoirs for sterility. Still something bad was growing in my hempy reservoirs in each bucket. No ill signs on the plant, but who knows what it was doing to my roots. I discontinued and decided a thorough flush in the basement utility sink with the garden hose was in order before I did my next water-in with fertilizer. I ran the hose for almost 10 minutes per bucket before the PPM came out the bottom close to what was going in at the top. Absolutely nasty build up and accumulation of crap like I have never seen in my hempy buckets. It was a 4 1/2 hour ugly process working 1 tent at a time. I cleaned the nasty residue from the bottoms and sides of my bucket where they had been sitting in a shallow sludge of molasses and water with god knows what horrible bacteria. Scrubbed, washed, and cleaned all of my drip trays. Cleaned each tent with hot water and soap. Dried with bath towels. Watered each plant thoroughly with 2 gallons of fertilized water to saturate the medium with fertilized water eliminating any tap water residual.
All I can say is if you are thinking of trying molasses in your water to waste hydro system. Just say no. My back is killing me and I definitely had better things to do with my afternoon, but doing nothing about a mistake is never an option. I will be ordering the 6 gallon container of flora nectar for $164 when my 1 gallon runs out. Slightly over $25/gallon I can live with. $60/gallon is a through and through raping. It works great and does not cause the issues molasses did.
