Sugar me?

[DirtMechanic]

I read a little about this use of sugar and starch as a transpiration accelerator and found it fascinating. What would be the local thing to use? Cornmeal? Table Sugar? I like the idea of attracting trichderma yet I would not want too much of course.

Article synopsis:

"Research was conducted to investigate the effect of glucose and starch on soil respiration under live oaks. Soil from a field-grown tree nursery was amended with glucose (C6H12O6), starch (C6H12O6)n, or a 50:50 mixture of both carbohydrates at increasing concentrations (0, 40, 80 and 120 g/L). Solutions were applied once as 10-L drenches within 0.5 m from the trunks of live oaks (Quercus virginiana P. Miller). In a companion study, soil samples treated with the same carbohydrates and concentrations were studied under laboratory conditions. Carbon dioxide evolution was significantly impacted by glucose and starch applications. Glucose applications caused a significant increase in soil respiration compared with the control within a week after application, and it lasted two to three weeks. Elevated soil respiration was most noticeable in the field experiment for starch treatments; however, the increase in soil respiration for higher concentrations (120 g/L) did not become pparent until the fourth week after application and lasted eight to nine weeks. This knowledge about the differing durations and magnitude of glucose and starch on soil respiration may be useful for developing carbohydrate application regimes for soils where increase respiration is desirable for managing urban trees."

Kinda neat! Now about that grass. Sucrose is C12+H22+O11 and those are the primary nutrients so that cannot be all bad right?

Also is 120 g/L granulated sugar with a density of 1.59 g per ML the same as 75 mL per Liter? Roughly 300 mL or 10 tablespoons or 5 fluid ounces in a gallon of water? I should ask Scott's if they know their spreader setting for for granulated sugar! HaHa!

Anyway if thats all right then 25lbs or 11.3 Kg could make 90 gallons at that ratio. I better triple check at some point before I try to tell my wife.

 

[Meadowlark]

I read a little about this use of sugar and starch as a transpiration accelerator and found it fascinating. What would be the local thing to use?

I'm surprised you didn't mention molasses. I was using it for nut grass control before I ever heard of using it on the garden as a whole. Maybe it isn't glamorous enough?

 

[YumYum]

A tablespoon of water weighs 14.8 g.

If sugar has a density of 1.59, then a tablespoon of sugar should weigh 23.532g (14.8 g x 1.59 = 23.532 g).
120 g of sugar would equal 120 g / 23.532 = 5.1 tablespoons or 90.57 ml.

So that would be 91 mL of sugar per Liter or 343 mL of sugar per US gallon.

 

[YumYum]

Fill me in on this sugar thing. I don't understand if you are trying to create a good enivronment to grow in or a bad environment to kill grass or something.

Won't adding sugar to the ground tie up the nitrogen that is there?

 

[DirtMechanic]

Fill me in on this sugar thing. I don't understand if you are trying to create a good enivronment to grow in or a bad environment to kill grass or something.

Won't adding sugar to the ground tie up the nitrogen that is there?

I am not sure. I imagine there are composting similarities. It is a question of degree possibly? I have heard this idea as anecdotal advice, and of course the molasses idea is omnipresent.

Anyway the idea of improving the "breathing" of a plant is also found in discussions about humates. To improve the "flow" inside a plant is to impact a variety if things related to growth I am imagining.