Adding Carbs To Your Grow

[lazarus718]

I wanted to get a thread going for anyone interested in finding/providing information to the farm about the benefits and techniques for adding carbohydrates (sugars) to your grow. Looking for some science behind what is going on with additives like molasses and all of the various bud enhancers out there. Do you guys use these products on your plants and how have they improved the quality, yield, etc. of your crops???

:banana1sv6:

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Personally I do use carbohydrates on most of my grows, but only once and at the correct moment.

Basically the theory is this: Near the final phase of flowering your plant will be drawing chlorophyll from the fan leaves and focusing its' energy into the buds in a last-ditch effort to become pollinated. This final few weeks is the most important time of your grow, as the trichomes will be maturing. I start my flush two weeks prior to harvest, and I add a low dose of molasses (and one other ingredient) to the first two flushes. This added bit of sugar allows the plant to focus on bud production instead of worrying about feeding itself with sugars, which will increase yield along with adding a subtle sweet flavor at the end.

Use only about a quarter dose of what the bottle says, though.

 

[Buddy Flowers]

lazarus- i use Humboldt Honey ES for my soil and AN Liquid Carbo Load for my hydro. I find that I get denser heavier flowers.

 

[PoopyCoopy]

carbs work great with myco

 

[Nobodynobody]

read in a book, it is nearly imposable to overdose carbs. Good reason why i dump more to bring the PPMs up after my base mix each week. Carbs bring the taste out! i use AN bud candy. New bottles have carbload and bud candy in it now. Bud candy helps bring the smell and oils out also.

Over all see and taste the difference.

 

[Misterdirt]

In soil grows, I have to wonder if what the carbs do is lock up nutrients in microbial biomass so that you achieve a better flush.

It has to knock the C:N ratio for a loop, and any available N, as well as other nutes, will be sucked up by the microbes.

 

[Cornelius]

ive heard not to carboload in hydro, big NONO. soil tho is a different story. i use molasses with good results and improved yield and flavor, but dont try that in your hydro res, you'll just have one sticky mess...

 

[Stonercool]

I wanted to get a thread going for anyone interested in finding/providing information to the farm about the benefits and techniques for adding carbohydrates (sugars) to your grow. Looking for some science behind what is going on with additives like molasses and all of the various bud enhancers out there. Do you guys use these products on your plants and how have they improved the quality, yield, etc. of your crops???

:banana1sv6:

I like Bud Candy.

It's super awesome for growing. It will boost your crop's taste, potency and aroma by furnishing anthocyanins, isoflavonoids, polyphenols, isoterpenes and tannins found in cranberry and grape extracts.

Bud Candy includes Sweet Leaf and CarboLoad.

And it's organic, which I think is sweet too.

 

[lazarus718]

I like Bud Candy.

It's super awesome for growing. It will boost your crop's taste, potency and aroma by furnishing anthocyanins, isoflavonoids, polyphenols, isoterpenes and tannins found in cranberry and grape extracts.

Bud Candy includes Sweet Leaf and CarboLoad.

And it's organic, which I think is sweet too.

Might have to give it a go this round...does it make all your strains taste the same though or do you get the individual flavors still coming out?

 

[lazarus718]

ive heard not to carboload in hydro, big NONO. soil tho is a different story. i use molasses with good results and improved yield and flavor, but dont try that in your hydro res, you'll just have one sticky mess...

Pretty sure a lot of growers add carbs to their hydro set-ups...I'll have to check into that one bro!!!

 

[420Gator]

Might have to give it a go this round...does it make all your strains taste the same though or do you get the individual flavors still coming out?

ive gotten diff strains from the same source and they all smelled/tasted the same. it wasnt unpleasant but i know what u mean and would rather taste the actual bud

 

[lazarus718]

ive gotten diff strains from the same source and they all smelled/tasted the same. it wasnt unpleasant but i know what u mean and would rather taste the actual bud

EXACTLY dude...that's my dilemma, I guess I just want the benefits of bud swell and increased taste. But I want to taste each individual plant and not a uniform cotton candy, grape, skunkberry...ya know???

 

[420Gator]

EXACTLY dude...that's my dilemma, I guess I just want the benefits of bud swell and increased taste. But I want to taste each individual plant and not a uniform cotton candy, grape, skunkberry...ya know???

just add a little molasses here and theyre if u really gotta feed some carbs, but for the most part the plants make their own

on a side not can anyone tell me why there arent any starch supps? the plants use it too, right??

 

[2DogWalker]

Laz,

Thanks for starting this thread, I have a related question, hope you don't mind if I post it up in here as I think you might be interested as well.

My question: Do you think maple syrup would be a suitable alternative to molasses for the introduction of sugars. As maple syrup is the least processed of all natural available sugar sources. Maple sap could also work I believe (typically between 2.5% to 4% sugar content), but timing would have to be right as bacteria is a big problem if not properly uv treated and stored in cold storage.
I would just prefer a naturally sourced product that I can drink out of the bottle ie molasses if I am going to be feeding it to them during flush.



Also 420 Gator, I have gotten 3 bags of danks from 3 ppl in the same circle of growers, all different strains, at different times, put them to a taste test - Identical dude. I think it is something like the carboload or the final flush that is making it taste like this.

2dog

 

[Seamaiden]

2Dog, it's worth a try, however, I personally don't care for maple flavor and would be very disappointed if I ended up with maple-flavored weed.

I have used and use molasses, malted barley extract (used for brewing) and the cone sugar sold in Hispanic markets, out here it's sold as panela or pinocha, but it could also be called piloncillo. Date and palm sugars also interest me, but they're not easy to find where I am. I'm considering giving table sugar a try, along with the xylitol we picked up for yet another experiment (xylitol is a sugar alcohol, similar to what's found in fruits, IIRC).

 

[2DogWalker]

Seamaiden

Most ppl from cali have never had good maple syrup or its by product.... ;). Hopefully someday I can remedy that!

I am trying to figure out if I can make medible maple candy too, do you think the THC would bind to the sugars or is it the fats in butter it is holding onto? (Another thread for another time).

Thanks much for the input though...I would like to try a run off of multiple carb sources to see how much it really impacts taste. I know the maple syrup seems to make my nute batches much "hotter" when added even at 1ml/gal.....

2Dog

 

[Smoking Gun]

I use Botanicare's Sweet with some great results. While their original formula was directed toward a berry flavor, it will only make the herb taste like berries if there is a genetic predisposition for a berry flavor. They now have a neutral flavor Sweet product, which I have not tried yet, if you want to try an organic source of unflavored carbs. I have always felt the Sweet really helps my plants reach their full potential in flavor, aroma and weight. I have never had two different strains taste like each other because I used the Sweet. Each strain tastes distinctly different and absolutely packed with flavor. I would definitely suggest trying some source of carbohydrates, which ever you choose, I feel it can only help your final product.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

A few points to consider:

It very much is possible to overload on carbohydrates. Sugaring the earth will kill just as efficiently as salting the earth will. Besides, anything given at too high a dose will dominate the subtle flavors of the plant's natural terpenes.

Plants use starches to chemically store excess glucose, which they then also consume during mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. Unfortunately they are not water soluble, so adding them to your grow isn't possible or useful.

If adding sugars it's best to add the purest natural complex carbohydrate that you can get. Simple sugars like fructose still would need to be processed further by the plant before consumption into a complex carb. I'd only recommend using maple syrup if you happen to love smoking pancakes, because the maple tree produces its' own terpenes and those will mask any natural expression of scent that your plants will have.

I'm actually experimenting with organic flavoring in my flushes at the moment. I have a contact in Mumbai that's obsessed with made-to-order flavored buds, and he owns a business that supplys such additives. That's the best thing about working with Ruderalis hybrids; with nine weeks from seed to harvest there's a much quicker turnover time, which makes experimentation much more practical. Who wouldn't want a nice banana kush that actually tastes like a banana?

 

[2DogWalker]

It'll be perfect blueberry pancakes.... Thanks for the knowledgeable response Dr. - wouldn't molasses do the same?

Thanks
2dog

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Basically the molasses isn't as risky to use as maple syrup because sugarcane has a less dominating flavor. The terpenes are much milder, so they don't mask any that the cannabis is attempting to produce on its' own.

The two types of fruits that have the most complex carbohydrates are apricots and plums. Making a nice flush using one of them would be feasible, but there's still the point of transferring flavor.

Honestly corn has a high amount of complex carbs too. High-fructose corn syrup is very effective in small doses, along with being so processed that there are virtually no terpenes at all. If you want your plants to express themselves with the least amount of outside influence (flavor-wise), then corn syrup is a great option.