Honey to replace brown sugar
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From the KNF library
The library does not mention honey, so it cannot say whether honey works. Only your test can answer that.
In FPJ, sugar draws the plant juices out of the leaves by osmosis. (Student's Manual, Basic Course, p. 36) Drake adds that sugar works this way only on fresh material. (Office Hours Ep. 123, 36:18)
On the sweetener itself, Drake says brown sugar is best because it keeps the molasses minerals. White sugar works, but leaves microbes short on nutrients. (Office Hours Ep. 112, 38:39) Cho's fruit juice recipe calls for black sugar and says refined sugar is allowed. (Cho, Theory, p. 76)
Asked about molasses in place of brown sugar, Drake said to use brown sugar alone. Molasses used instead of sugar in plant juice makes a shorter-lived extract, not true FPJ. (Office Hours Ep. 29, 49:49)
Sources
- 49:49 Office Hours Ep. 29 (May 2022) — Red Dirt for IMO4, Storing IMO3/IMO4, Spotting Bad KNF Ferments · “Use brown sugar alone; molasses is only for activating lactobacillus and, used instead of sugar in plant juice, makes a shorter-lived fermented plant extract, not true FPJ.”
- 36:18 Office Hours Ep. 123 (May 2024) — Root-Tip FPJ, OHN Substitutions, IMO4 Temperature Limits · “sugar only works through osmosis on fresh material”
- 38:39 Office Hours Ep. 112 (Feb 2024) — Brown Sugar vs White Sugar, Millet for IMO3, Herbal Pest Spray · “Brown sugar is best because it keeps the molasses minerals; white sugar works but leaves microbes short on nutrients”
- p. 76 Cho, Theory · “Black sugar (refined sugar is allowed).”
- p. 36 Student's Manual, Basic Course · “Osmosis draws the plant juices out of the leaves.”
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