There has been a great deal of interest in the use of monosaccharide’s (Table sugar and Molasses) as source of supply of energy for soil organisms. While this might seem good logic, it is no less artificial than supply nitrogen out of the bag.

Bacteria have difficulty disseminating simple sugars as the lack of interest in table sugar will attest. Molasses is also of little interest to bacteria and both it and table sugar will keep for generations, exposed, in fact sugar is one of the oldest preservatives known to man. Sugar, C12H22O11 applied to soils is no less artificial as a supply of energy than urea is a natural supply of nitrogen, yet the same is advocated, and urea condemned by the same people.

Bacteria function best when they have access to complex sugars such as starches and lignin and cellulose. These three latter substances are found in nature, the former two, molasses and table sugars are not. Complex sugars, as these invite the symbiosis of groups of organisms which, as the term implies, work in unison to break down plant residues and return it a substance termed Humus.

When bacteria do attack sugar the resulting conversion creates acids. This conversion is what results in tooth decay, a situation most will be familiar with.

Humates (Humic acids) are also being promoted as an alternative to fertiliser. These products occur in nature and are continually being produced by decomposing organisms through the turnover of humus. Humus is a product that is always in a state of flux, that is, in is always being destroyed and then rebuilt. Humates are responsible for the colour of brackish water and are also found leaching from compost and silage stacks. These products do not need to be bought, all that need to be done is produce an environment conducive to aerobic biological procreation.