Sometimes it is best to look at a few pieces of old knowledge and some old school techniques to find some new ideas for enhancing your garden. I have recently come across some mentions of using molasses as a natural fertilizer in your garden and I wondered if it could be used with hydroponics. Let’s take a look.
There are rumors about adding sugar to the soil of your garden to increase the sweetness of the fruits of your plants. This may be a bit of a myth and I have not been able to confirm this yet, but I have been checking out the nutrient content of the molasses and I am impressed. There is calcium, magnesium and a bunch of other great stuff in there.
The biggest advantage of using molasses is that it supports a healthy microbial ecology in your hydroponics system. This is one of the biggest difficulties that we, as hydroponic gardeners, can face. You will want to get un-sulfured molasses as the form of sulfur they use is a preservative meant to stop microbial activity. We are trying to encourage those microbes and this would be highly counter counter-productive.
The best way to use molasses is to get some black strap and mix it with water in a ratio of 1 part molasses to 100 parts water. This is the absolute maximum concentration that you want to use. Any more than this and your risk causing root rot or slime in your hydroponics system. You also need to make sure that you fully dissolve the molasses or you are risking clogging your system. IT can gum up your growing medium, pumps or sprayers and be very difficult to clean out. For this reason, I suggest adding the molasses to boiling water, mixing it in completely and then letting it cool before using it with your hydroponics.
Pura Vida is a pretty well known brand of hydroponic nutrients, and has been tried by a lot of different gardeners. Pura Vida hydroponic nutrients are great for indoor gardening because they come in liquid format. You measure out the desired amount of nutrients, and pour them into a gallon of water. After mixing the nutrient solution, it is ready for use.
You apply Pura Vida nutrient solutions with normal irrigation. The best time for feeding is usually in the morning, when the plant is just starting its metabolic processes for the day.
Note: The Pura Vida Organic Solution was OMRI Certified Organic. The Pura Vida Grow was not organic. The plants did not seem to notice the transition.
The first things you need to know about the Pura Vida combo is there are micro nutrients built in. It is a two part solution, but only one part per phase. One part per phase is talking about the growing phase of the plant, Grow or Bloom.
You only need to use the grow for the first part of their life. You only need to use Bloom for the second part of their life.
If you are new to hydroponics, I recommend starting with that type of simplicity. You are making up for the simplicity with the quality of nutrients.
Advanced Gardener’s Box: There are instructions for an aggressive two part formula on the back labels of these bottles. The PPM of the nutrient solution is MUCH higher than the one part formulas. Only experienced gardeners should attempt the aggressive formula once you know how to grow your particular variety of plant. It is very easy to salt lock your plants with this aggressive formula. You need to do frequent water changes to ensure balanced PH.
The Negatives:
I tested the nutrients in a large variety of hydroponics systems including three different drip systems. On the drip systems that used drip emitters, about 1 in 10 drip emitters would clog from the organic material. One way to defeat those clogs is to mesh out the chunks of fertilizer before you pour it in your reservoir. There are also pre-filter systems that can catch some of those pieces.
In open-ended 1/4 inch tube drip systems, with no drip emitter, the nutrients worked beautifully. The key to success with the open-ended tube system is to lower the ppm of your nutrient solution while buffing the number of regular feeding times as the plant grows and expands it’s root system.
The open 1/4 inch tube allows the root systems to get optimal amounts of aerated water. Use an aeration stone in your reservoir so the nutrient solution stays oxygenated and moving. The open ended 1/4 inch tube allows the water to connect with more air molecules before landing in the plant container. This system works for hydroponics, soil-less, and even soil growing methods. Talk about versatility.
Overall
Consider trying these nutrients if you have never used them. The bottles cost a little more than the lower end hydroponic nutrients, but thats for a reason. Do not under estimate the strength of these nutrients. Make sure to lower the ppm of your nutrient solution so you do not get salt locked plants. These nutrients can go up to three weeks with no water change in a 15gallon + reservoir. However, you should monitor your PPM for optimal conditions. Water changes every 12-14 days with a standard plain water rinse out is typical.
Look for the OMRI Certified bottles at your local hydro shop or you can order them online.
When you buy a new hydroponic system or build your own, you have to be careful and observant the first time you use it. Since you are not familiar with how your plants will grow in your new system you have to be extra careful to make sure you do not push them too hard. Many things come into play when trying to figure out how much to feed your plants. The first season you have with your system will most likely be the worst one. Once you get a feel for your system you realize where you can make adjustments. The next season will be much better because you already know what to expect. Nutrient burns and salt lock ups are very common mistakes made by new indoor gardeners trying to push their plants too hard before finding out what they are actually using. In my opinion, it is safer to diminish your overall harvest weight for the sake of quality. If you cut back on the feeding regimen before there is salt lock up or over fertilization, you will end up with a better quality food product.
You should always stay on the light side of a nutrient solution when using a hydroponic system for the first time. To dilute your solution you just add plain water. Use hydroponic fertilizers that are water soluble so the nutrients will soak into the water in your reservoir. When oxygen is being delivered to the reservoir you will get much better results with your nutrients. The aerated nutrient delivery is a much more efficient way to feed plants over traditional watering practices. Usually OMRI listed nutrients are safer and more forgiving. If you have questions about a specific bottle just ask the person working at the hydroponics shop. They will be more than happy to show you which nutrients are more forgiving. I suggest using only half what the bottle recommends for the first run. When you start to see signs of over fertilization you know your solution is too strong. If your plants are showing signs of nutrient deficiencies you may need to strengthen your nutrient solution. PH and Electrical Conductivity (EC) meters can help keep you in the safe range, but they are not always necessary if you can’t afford them. Of course there is much much more to nutrient solutions, but it cannot be covered in one post. These guidelines will help you stay out of trouble and keep your plants healthy until you fully understand YOUR hydroponic system.
I have a few house plants I like to mess around with when I get new sets of nutrients. In the picture I have my purple passion vine in a condition that is starting to show signs of over fertilization. These house plants only need nutrients every 2-4 weeks at most but sometimes I’ll hit it every week for a few weeks at a time to see if the growth jumps. The plant is mostly rooted in the container so it is at its max requirement for nutrition. I water it every day pretty much. During today’s daily watering I noticed there was water in the tray and the plant had leaf fringes that were down turned. This plant naturally curls its leaves some, but i could tell the difference in structure right away.
The down turned leaves could be a sign of over fertilization or nutrient salt build up. These can both be fixed by simply watering with plain water every day until symptoms disappear. Good consistent soil waterings can wash the extra salt build up in the plants roots. If you are running a hydroponics system then do a reservoir change and drop the PPM (parts per million) of your nutrient solution. If you don’t have a ppm or EC meter there is no need to worry. Just fill the reservoir up by a set amount of gallons or liters and pay attention to the amount of nutrients added per gallon/liter. The packaging for the nutrients should say what they recommend to use for soil or soiless grow mediums. I usually cut their recommended mixture in half to be on the safe side. You’ll especially want to use a low end estimate if your plants are showing signs of over fertilization. In a hydroponic reservoir the solution can also be dropped to one fourth the recommended solution to rinse out salt build ups. Make sure to top off the tank with fresh water or 1/4 solution to keep the levels high before the next reservoir change.
Notice down turned fringe and leaf structure is curled inward.
