Re: [compost_tea] RE: Microbe Food

From: <soilfoodweb_at_aol.com>
Date: Mon, 02 Jun 2003 00:28:15 -0400

Black-strap molasses contains many, many different sugars. There are good analyses of the kinds of sugars on sugar cane growers websites. Just do a search for molasses.

There are complex sugars in molasses, and the "residue" left over after anaylsis is typically humic acid material. Humic acids are so complex that they are hard to do chemcial composition on, and so they are all lumped together as "residue".

The problem with dried cane sugar and dried molasses products is that the "residue" is nearly impossible to dry down, and it gets deleted from the dried product. Thus, a high percentage of the benefit from blackstrap molasses does not make it into the dried cane sugar.

I worked with a person once that was given the data we had on food resources, including blackstrap molasses. Later, he wanted to switch to dried cane sugar products. He expected me to know, instantly, how the dried cane material compared to the blackstrap molasses. I of course said, "You will have to do the testing on the dried cane product."

I found out later that my response made him really angry, he thought I was trying to gouge him for money! We don't know whether something will grow the right organisms until we test it. There is quite a bit of difference between blackstrap molasses and dried cane sugar. There are even some variations from year to year in exactly how good these materials are for growing this or that species of bacteria or fungi. Look at the color, there's a huge clue right there about variability.

As you might suspect, that person who got angry about my honest answer about the need for data when a new food resource is tested, no longer works with SFI, but over the years, we have done the comparative testing, showing that at usual concentrations used in tea, the dried cane product grows mostly bacteria, whereas the blackstrap molasses always helps a set of beneficial fungi (with the proviso that beneficial fungi were in the compost, that they escaped the compost basket and get into the water).

So, if someone says dried cane sugar products are the same as molasses, don't believe them. But remember, that you can add OTHER fungal foods to make up for the deficiency of fungal growth resources in the dried cane product.

OK?

Hope this helps!

Elaine Ingham
President, Soil Foodweb Inc.
SFI Corvallis, OR
SFI Port Jefferson, NY
SFI Lismore, NSW, Australia
SFI Hilversum, The Netherlands
SFI Cambridge, New Zealand
www.soilfoodweb.com

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Received on Mon Jun 02 2003 - 02:15:17 EDT

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