Carbohydrate Supplements

As a grower, you’ve likely read about increasing yield size by supplementing your crop’s feeding regimen with carbohydrates. You may have also seen various carbohydrate supplements for plants on the shelves in the store. And you may have even heard seasoned growers talk about the benefits of the simple carbs found in molasses.

But what’s the real truth about carbohydrate supplementation for plants? Is there any actual benefit to using such supplements, and if so, what are the best carbs for your crop?

In this article, we’ll dive deep into those questions and more. But first, let’s understand exactly what carbohydrates are and the roles they play in plant growth.

Put simply, carbohydrates are compounds made of oxygen, carbon and hydrogen. However, carbs can take many different forms, including as cellulose, starches and sugars — which can be further broken down into monosaccharides, disaccharides and polysaccharides, depending on the number of sugar units contained within the molecule.

Carbohydrates are essential to organic life and play several significant roles within plants.

Firstly, carbohydrates in the form of glucose serve as a primary source of energy, fueling various plant functions, including growth. Secondly, the carbohydrate cellulose serves as the main structural component of cell walls within plants. That’s right — carbs are heavily utilized in the construction of your plant roots, shoots, stems, leaves and blooms.

In fact, glucose is the primary and most abundant product of photosynthesis, providing crops the energy as well as the building blocks they need to survive and grow.

At this point, you may be asking yourself, “If my plants produce glucose naturally through photosynthesis, then why would I bother feeding them supplemental carbs?” It’s a valid question, so let’s break it down.

You see, during the vegetative stage, your plants are not just synthesizing glucose through the process of photosynthesis — they’re also manufacturing and storing carbohydrate reserves for later use once production slows down in the flowering stage.

When ripening sets in — during which time your flowers and blooms make their biggest weight gains — carbohydrate manufacturing comes almost to a complete halt and your crops must rely solely on their carb reserves to power flower production.

Ultimately, your plants will produce enough carbohydrates on their own to survive, provided all the other basic requirements for life are met. But it’s not enough to merely survive; you want your crops to thrive, and to push the biggest, heaviest yields they’re genetically capable of. Adding a quality carbohydrate supplement to your plant feeding regimen can help you achieve that.

But how? Here are a few key ways:

• Providing your crops supplemental carbs frees up energy for other vital processes. Put simply, it takes energy to make energy — so by providing extra carbohydrates, your crops expend less energy on manufacturing carbs, and can direct more energy toward synthesizing amino acids and other important metabolites.
• Supplemental carbohydrates keep your plants’ carb reserves topped off — particularly during ripening, when they need it the most. Remember, your plants’ carbohydrate reserves can store enough to survive, but if you want them to push the biggest yields possible, you want to ensure those reserves are always full.
• Extra carbohydrates help feed beneficial microbes in your root zone so they can carry out their vital functions of fending off harmful microorganisms and disease.

When it comes to feeding plants, there are two generally accepted methods: Foliar application and root system application. But when applying a carbohydrate supplement, root system delivery is definitely preferable.

Spraying supplemental carbohydrates onto your plants’ leaves can be risky. Sugars are a form of carbohydrate, and sugars are sticky, which means you run the risk of gumming up your leaves’ stomata, the pores found in plant tissue through which they exchange oxygen for carbon dioxide. Additionally, sticky leaves may be more attractive to harmful insects and pests.

Clearly, root system delivery is ideal for carbohydrate supplementation in your high-value crops.

So, what about molasses? If you’ve been in the grow game long enough, you’ve probably heard about using molasses, which contains simple forms of carbohydrates like fructose and sucrose, as a supplement.

The truth is that molasses can be a valuable supplement — if you’re growing in soil. However, for hydroponic growers, molasses simply is not the best choice for a couple of reasons.

First of all, gooey molasses can easily clog up your system’s lines, as well as cause residue buildup in your reservoir, grow medium and even the roots themselves. Residue buildup in your root system is especially dangerous, as it can lead to such complications as root rot.

Secondly, molasses — and other forms of over-the-counter sugar — are wildly inconsistent when it comes to quality and composition. And when it comes to your valuable crops, you need to ensure the most high-quality, reliable, consistent supplementation possible.

Now that we understand the function of carbohydrates in plants and the benefits of carb supplementation, let’s talk about the best carbohydrate supplement for the special crops you grow.

Our partners at Advanced Nutrients recommend the Bud Candy

You see, it’s not enough to feed your crops just any ol’ carb supplement. In order to get the most benefit — and biggest yields possible — you need to use a supplement that is tailored to the exact needs of the high-value plants you grow. And that’s exactly what Bud Candy is.

So, what makes Bud Candy the ideal carbohydrate supplement?

• Bud Candy boasts a variety of high-quality carbohydrate sources: Carbs come in a variety of forms — from simple sugars like monosaccharides, to complex compounds like cellulose. These carbohydrates are utilized in different ways, so any carb supplement you use needs to contain the right varieties for maximum effectiveness. Advanced Nutrients Bud Candy contains five high-grade sources of carbohydrates, each of which play a specific role in the crops you grow.

• Bud Candy represents a highly efficient root-system delivery: This is preferable over foliar delivery for carbohydrate supplementation. What’s more, oxygen substantially increases the rate of carbohydrate absorption within healthy plant roots, which means Bud Candy is perfect for oxygen-rich grow environments, whether in soil or a hydroponic system.

• Bud Candy represents decades of research, development and real-world testing: Like all Advanced Nutrients products, Bud Candy has been meticulously developed over decades of R & D, led by a team of 25+ Ph.D. botanists, organic chemists and microbiologists. Moreover, this formulation has been rigorously tested on the same type of high-value plants that you grow, resulting in the best carbohydrate profile possible.