Doc Bud's High Brix Q&A With Pictures

[Killerbudz]

I just thought I'd share a pic of one of the Tut plants I just flipped to 12/12 yesterday with my fellow Brixers, and I have to admit, I've never seen plants looking this happy!

Checkout this beast:

DSCN4308.JPG

• Mr. Krip
• Oct 6, 2018

I'm not sure who's lovin' the HB soil more - me or her?

 

[Cherries Jubilee]

Hey there, I hope your day is well. Just wanted to point you to this thread... if youre handy, or your friends are, maybe just build what you need for you space: #403

Yeaaa totally have been looking into DIY. I would end up burning the house down either while making them or after leaving them on for a while to fry some electrical LOL. TBH though my meizhi light had some kind of loose piece of something rattling around out of the box... something small, maybe just debris. I turned it around to try and get it out and now it's stopped making noise (lodged in there somewhere or fell out?) so I'm not too keen on them for safety either lol.

What's the chances of paying somebody here to do a simple build for me and coming out cheaper at the end?

 

[Doc Bud]

I just thought I'd share a pic of one of the Tut plants I just flipped to 12/12 yesterday with my fellow Brixers, and I have to admit, I've never seen plants looking this happy!

Checkout this beast:

DSCN4308.JPG

• Mr. Krip
• Oct 6, 2018

I'm not sure who's lovin' the HB soil more - me or her?

Fake plants all go on sale on aisle 5 at noon.....

 

[overlord]

Look great.. you use them for all of flower?

So far I have used it only in flower and have loved it. You should check out @Van Stank & @medmanmike journals as they use the same light.

I have no idea what I'll get in the mixed bag. One quick question, I'm getting 20 random regular seeds. I want to do 4 flower, 4 veg, so I have to get 1/2 way through the growth of the first 4 and then start 4 more yeah? So should I germ 10 seeds each time and hope all the females aren't in the 2nd lot? Lol. I'm also guessing diff strains will veg longer than others so timing may be an issue. We'll see.

That is a tough one to call..
The other thing is, if there are any blueberry seeds in that mix you may want to scuff and soak them as they are known to be tough to crack.
I have an ouzbekistan strain who the breeder began getting a lot of complaints that the seeds were no good. Another customer realized they were just tough to crack and could be done if using the above method. The breeder was kind enough to replace the seeds for those who had trouble and they also followed the same method to success on their second round.

I pretty much do this for all seeds I plan to germinate these days. In some cases unnecessary but doesn't hurt anything either.

EDIT: Sorry, last night was a night from hell at work and just getting around to answering this.

 

[Cherries Jubilee]

There could be blueberry, impossible to know.. at that point i'd have to do it to all of them. I'd prefer to just direct sow w/ that rooting powder I've seen in docs videos but we'll see.

After more research it looks like I could DIY a light just as good (or indistinguishably worse), close to 3-4x as big as the spydrx (maybe not as powerful?) for half the price... think I will go that route. Basing that on this build from the DIY thread and the guys cost breakdown. This thing looks incredible

 

[overlord]

There could be blueberry, impossible to know.. at that point i'd have to do it to all of them. I'd prefer to just direct sow w/ that rooting powder I've seen in docs videos but we'll see.

You can do both, that is what I do.
I soak the seeds for 12 to 18 hours depending, then put into the soil.

 

[Mr. Krip]

Fake plants all go on sale on aisle 5 at noon.....

LOL! I have a hunch if I put a fake plant in there, the micro-herd would eat it up and magically crap out the proper ratios of N, P, K & 90 other micronutrients!

The only "complaint" I have about the kit is that I used to feel like a grower and I don't anymore. I used to have grower stuff to do every day with topping off res's, mixing 3-part nutes with multiple additives, checking EC, adjusting PH, etc.

Now, I just squirt some stuff in a bucket every week, or so, and either spray it or pour it on the plants, then come back next week.

I definitely need more space so I can have more plants to care for and that MAYBE will take up all this free time I now have and I'll feel like a grower again!

 

[Cherries Jubilee]

You can do both, that is what I do.
I soak the seeds for 12 to 18 hours depending, then put into the soil.

I managed to sprout about 5 out of 10 bag seeds inside, in backyard soil w/ pre-germing... got 3 of them to about 3" tall, sprouted the first 4 tiny leaves each then all died. Lol. No good lighting or whatever, just messing around. I got excited as they all did well at first but then completely stunted and just flopped. Hopefully bought seeds and proper lighting/soil will work better. I mean, it will hahah

 

[Cherries Jubilee]

LOL! I have a hunch if I put a fake plant in there, the micro-herd would eat it up and magically crap out the proper ratios of N, P, K & 90 other micronutrients!

The only "complaint" I have about the kit is that I used to feel like a grower and I don't anymore. I used to have grower stuff to do every day with topping off res's, mixing 3-part nutes with multiple additives, checking EC, adjusting PH, etc.

Now, I just squirt some stuff in a bucket every week, or so, and either spray it or pour it on the plants, then come back next week.

I definitely need more space so I can have more plants to care for and that MAYBE will take up all this free time I now have and I'll feel like a grower again!

The irony of this, of course, being that for most of human history growing took very little effort permaculture enlightens you on how nature regulates itself. Natives used to grow the 3 sisters because it was just letting nature take care of a lot of the work. Don't have to stake beans when it has corn to climb. Don't have to water so much when squash is shading the soil, the diff root lengths serve different purposes, etc. Just mimic nature and it will work for you. Try to control it and you add work for yourself and are constantly struggling against it.

Most weed growers i've met were just clueless as to the mechanics of how shit grows and how nature works in general. This is why high brix made instant sense when it started explaining high soil quality and microbial activity, that's what happens in nature. I may even go further and combine this with no-till, leaving my entire root systems intact to maintain the existent microbial/fungal networks and hypothetically improve soil quality with every run, but that will take some planning.

Point being though, just like with monoculture produce (also horrendously inefficient, low quality output, fighting against nature and creating more work) a lot of growers these days (that i've met, at least) are just adding work and extra steps because they don't understand what plants really need.

Even high brix method is "unnatural" at the end of the day, but everything is unnatural in a controlled environment like this. The best we can do is try to be as close to what happens in nature as possible, and this is a huge step.

 

[Graytail]

It's almost impossible to understand what plants really need.

The biota however, do - it's their entire reason for being. It's what they do.

So, we keep them happy, and they keep the plants happy, and that makes us happy, although feeling a bit out of the loop. There are weeks at a time that I have no idea what they're all doing in the soil. The plant goes all deep shiny fake an' I got no clue why. Or maybe it just looks at me, all fatigued. I got no clue. The bots are in charge under there.

Fortunately, biota are a lot less finicky than plants. All we need to do is provide them with an especially nice place to live and work, and a few different kinds of food, and they go to work.

 

[Cherries Jubilee]

Yes, what I meant was plants really need that soil quality and activity haha. That's what a lot of growers don't understand, when I say they don't know what plants need. They think "plants need nutrients". Well, yes, but they also need to be able to make use of them.

p.s., off topic here but on the topic of mimicking nature for ultra low-effort, high quality output, read into forest gardening. You literally plan a space 20-30 yrs into the future, because you add plants for all 7 layers a forest has (see here The Seven Layers of a Forest - The Permaculture Research Institute), so it'll take that long for some of the trees to fully grow - you need to know what the shading/spacing will be like THEN, 30 yrs later, and plan it for that. You use as many plants as you can make use of, and then a lot of supportive plants as well that you won't use for consumption or medicinally, but they are vital to the ecosystem. What you end up with is a literal self-regulating forest of food and medicinal plants that you literally don't have to maintain *at all*. It will fill up with animal life as well, mulch itself, and so on. It's incredible stuff, I've always wanted to do it but I don't think I will ever be able to.

 

[Mr. Krip]

The irony of this, of course, being that for most of human history growing took very little effort permaculture enlightens you on how nature regulates itself. Natives used to grow the 3 sisters because it was just letting nature take care of a lot of the work. Don't have to stake beans when it has corn to climb. Don't have to water so much when squash is shading the soil, the diff root lengths serve different purposes, etc. Just mimic nature and it will work for you. Try to control it and you add work for yourself and are constantly struggling against it.

Most weed growers i've met were just clueless as to the mechanics of how shit grows and how nature works in general. This is why high brix made instant sense when it started explaining high soil quality and microbial activity, that's what happens in nature. I may even go further and combine this with no-till, leaving my entire root systems intact to maintain the existent microbial/fungal networks and hypothetically improve soil quality with every run, but that will take some planning.

Point being though, just like with monoculture produce (also horrendously inefficient, low quality output, fighting against nature and creating more work) a lot of growers these days (that i've met, at least) are just adding work and extra steps because they don't understand what plants really need.

Well, nature typically gets you LOS/permaculture but NOT high brix (with some exceptions).

I have somewhat of a science background and always said that hydro was science and soil was farming. With hydro, you know and control exactly what's in the medium and in what ratios. With LOS, you're feeding the soil and allowing "nature" to do it's work. As a "hydro guy", I'd never want soil or microbes near my res!

But, as I've said before regarding Doc's High Brix method, Doc has truly put the science in the soil; so you get the ideal ratios of nutrients & necessary microbial activity that certainly exist in SOME places in nature, but that's purely by chance/luck. If you want the "recipe", you need the kit!

 

[Doc Bud]

It's almost impossible to understand what plants really need.

The biota however, do - it's their entire reason for being. It's what they do.

So, we keep them happy, and they keep the plants happy, and that makes us happy, although feeling a bit out of the loop. There are weeks at a time that I have no idea what they're all doing in the soil. The plant goes all deep shiny fake an' I got no clue why. Or maybe it just looks at me, all fatigued. I got no clue. The bots are in charge under there.

Fortunately, biota are a lot less finicky than plants. All we need to do is provide them with an especially nice place to live and work, and a few different kinds of food, and they go to work.

Yep. That's the truth.

Our limitations are soil volume and lighting. Our strengths are environmental control.

If you amend your backyard soil to High Brix, your limitations will now be weather related and much harder to control....but you'll have better lighting and more soil volume.

It's a trade-off.

But the one thing that neither the outdoor or indoor grower can do without is healthy soil. That's what High Brix Blend provides. As stated by so many, so often for many years now......this shit really works!

 

[Cherries Jubilee]

As a lower mainland BC'er, I certainly live in one of the right areas so I'm lucky there. I'd be surprised if we didn't have many high brix areas. Almost everywhere in any backyard is beautiful dark humus even w/ the plague of grass lawns hindering soil development. We are pretty blessed here for growing outdoors.

 

[overlord]

As stated by so many, so often for many years now......this shit really works!

That is the truth, even when something doesn't go right and I have a less than spectacular grow. People will tell me when I throw a bud out to smoke, things like "I haven't seen any weed that good in a long time."

 

[Doc Bud]

Well, nature typically gets you LOS/permaculture but NOT high brix (with some exceptions).
Doc has truly put the science in the soil; so you get the ideal ratios of nutrients & necessary microbial activity that certainly exist in SOME places in nature, but that's purely by chance/luck. If you want the "recipe", you need the kit!

Wild apples rarely taste as good as apples cultivated by someone who knows what they're doing and has good soil.

Wild roses rarely bloom as often or as large and vibrant as their cultivated cousins.....

Etc.

When we talk about nature, I'm always amused that we seem to presume that human beings are not part of nature, or against nature, or stand in the way of nature.....or something like that.

In actuality, human beings are cultivators. Barring other factors, we are the only species that can purposely improve soil on a large scale. We are the only species that can till the earth and plant crops, irrigate, etc. We would all have starved to death many thousands of years ago if we did not NATURALLY posses this ability.

When I think of High Brix gardening I think of a symbiotic relationship between soil and human being. Just like plants need soil minerals and microbes to thrive, soil needs human input in order to have robust microbial action. It's natural!

Now, there are indeed some places on this earth with naturally occurring, mineralized, living soil. And these places often feature traditional farming methods developed over thousands of years that take advantage of the rich, fertile soil. I'm talking the Nile Valley, Volcanic soils around Tuscany, volcanic soil in Hawaii and other places known for exceptional quality of crops.

Here's where people go wrong: they copy the traditional methods, like KNF......Korean Natural Farming.....but they use soil from a bag, bought in Texas, or California. It's not the method of farming.....ITS THE DAMN SOIL!

If you happen to have good Korean soil and the various things they use to cultivate and fertilize that's all well and good! But to use Brand X potting soil, or backyard soil from Mendo and then pretend to be a KNF farmer is quite silly, IMO.

Copy the soil first, THEN copy the methods. This has all been studied, tested, quantified and re-tested. What we have with High Brix soil is the most active microbiology possible, given our current knowledge.

Therefore, I advise against "LOS" methods, or KNF methods, etc. Sure, someone is going to use the and do great work with LOS or KNF. Others will suck at it, and many will be in between. It's not the method.....it's the soil.

Start with the good stuff, understand how to keep it happy via foliar feeding and drenches and it's pretty damn easy!

Complicate it by fitting the round High Brix peg into the LOS square hole and your results will be inconsistent.

 

[Blazinjones]

The coco thing is interesting.

My lab says "no, don't use it." But I know some truly gifted growers who use 25% washed coco mixed into the Promix!

So, I'm studying it. I have some theories, but nothing to back them up just yet.

Yea u definitely gotta have some skill to use a peatmoss coco mix. I tried mixxing coco in with my soil which was a peat moss based soil n man i wasn't doin well with it lol if i wuda stuck with it longer then one grow i might have got the amounts dailed in an got it to work but being tht i was jus starting out i decided to go with a straight peat moss mix instead of coco

I just thought I'd share a pic of one of the Tut plants I just flipped to 12/12 yesterday with my fellow Brixers, and I have to admit, I've never seen plants looking this happy!

Checkout this beast:

DSCN4308.JPG

• Mr. Krip
• Oct 6, 2018

I'm not sure who's lovin' the HB soil more - me or her?

Lol right im getting ready to jus mix my soil up 2day an i already am pumped about this grow an i still got a month b4 i can even really start lol. But tht dnt mean i cant still have my fun. I actually liked this part of doing los growing mixxing up the soil n getting ur hands dirty. I cant wait to mix this stuff cause wen i was doing my los the soil wud smell really earthy n u cud tell it had life in it an was alive an kicking so i cant wait to see this stuff in action lol.

 

[Amy Gardner]

In actuality, human beings are cultivators.

Tell it, Doc!

 

[medmanmike]

Yes in 2 weeks Canadians will be legal to grow 4 plants per household without medical woohoo. Shipping clones is super easy too. I put mine in a styrofoam cup of moist soil then another cup over top and tape it together and put it in a little box it just fits in and ship with canada post. Works every time easy and is cheap shipping if you keep the box as small as possible.

Excuse me while I highjack the thread for a minute.

First, congrats to all you Canadian canna lovers-I'm envious! I'l light one up in your honor on the 17th!

Many of you may know that Michigan has a legalization proposal on the Nov. 6 ballot. Recent polling (Sept 30 - Oct. 2) shows 62 percent in favor to 35 percent opposed, with only 3 percent undecided. Oct. 9 is the deadline for registering to vote in the Nov. election. So, all you High Brix Michiganders be sure to get registered if you're not and vote for Proposal 1!
Now, back to our regular programming.

 

[Slowpuffer]

LOL! I have a hunch if I put a fake plant in there, the micro-herd would eat it up and magically crap out the proper ratios of N, P, K & 90 other micronutrients!

The only "complaint" I have about the kit is that I used to feel like a grower and I don't anymore. I used to have grower stuff to do every day with topping off res's, mixing 3-part nutes with multiple additives, checking EC, adjusting PH, etc.

Now, I just squirt some stuff in a bucket every week, or so, and either spray it or pour it on the plants, then come back next week.

I definitely need more space so I can have more plants to care for and that MAYBE will take up all this free time I now have and I'll feel like a grower again!

Mr krip, I have been growing hydroponically in pure coco for like 2-3 years and just recently started growing with super soil, and like you I have nothing to do. But unlike you, I'm not complaining !! And no expensive nutrients to go waste my $$ on. And i do have enough nutrients, that i'm forced to do one more coco grow. I do miss the rapid growth, growing in coco, but I'm seeing a better quality product with the organic route. Instead of vegging 6 weeks in coco, I now veg like 8-9 weeks in soil. But if the bottom line is better quality, then I'm in.