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- #23,601
Mornin to ya Doc!
You too!
Doc Bud's High Brix Q&A With Pictures
- Thread starter Doc Bud
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You too!
Coloradokid19
Well-Known Member
Sweet ya that’s what I meant I just worded it wrong, appreciate the knowledge!
Gaffle
Well-Known Member
Question time! I'm not using the kit Doc, but I have some brix questions.
Last brix reading I had with refractometer was at 14 for both of my plants. My bed was amended with cooked soil that I had F'd with and minerals. Yadda yadda.
So, soil sample came in. My soil type is loam, and my cec was 16.9. Do you maintain, or gun for a certain cec #? My test was fairly basic so I do not know my smaller trace minerals. My results were all ppm, not base %.
Do you limit K because of binding issues?
Last brix reading I had with refractometer was at 14 for both of my plants. My bed was amended with cooked soil that I had F'd with and minerals. Yadda yadda.
So, soil sample came in. My soil type is loam, and my cec was 16.9. Do you maintain, or gun for a certain cec #? My test was fairly basic so I do not know my smaller trace minerals. My results were all ppm, not base %.
Do you limit K because of binding issues?
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- #23,604
Hi Gaffle,
Good job on a 14 brix reading. That's a solid number.
We like to see CEC at about 30+.....
We limit K for a number of reasons.....but mostly because the soil life gets very frisky when the Ca/K ratio is wide. Unless this occurs, high brix is impossible.
Excessive K in the soil will cause issues, as will excess Na, but we're limiting it in order to keep the Ca/K ratio in spec.....a soil that starts with enough K to mess up the base cations isn't something we work with. It's not usable.
Gaffle
Well-Known Member
Thx Doc! A 30 cec is high, yikes.
I had K in my test, I have no idea how much was there previously, test was after I amended in July.
K - 194 ppm
P - 141ppm
Ca - 2680ppm
Organic matter - 13%
For an outdoor grow what do you recommend to do for Na removal? Above ground beds and new soil every season? Does the foliar spray play a role in cation release for plant use? Do I sound like the kindergartener with constant flow questions? Hah
Awhile ago I thought you spoke about switching to peat, have you gone that route? I'm about to experiment with mineralized peat in a SIP. I am using azomite and sea-90 right now, but me be thinking about using basalt and/or glacial rockdust.
I had K in my test, I have no idea how much was there previously, test was after I amended in July.
K - 194 ppm
P - 141ppm
Ca - 2680ppm
Organic matter - 13%
For an outdoor grow what do you recommend to do for Na removal? Above ground beds and new soil every season? Does the foliar spray play a role in cation release for plant use? Do I sound like the kindergartener with constant flow questions? Hah
Awhile ago I thought you spoke about switching to peat, have you gone that route? I'm about to experiment with mineralized peat in a SIP. I am using azomite and sea-90 right now, but me be thinking about using basalt and/or glacial rockdust.
- Thread starter
- #23,606
PPM is better than nothing, but not a good way to test soil. I like the Formazon or "weak acid" test, since it mimics what the myco does at the molecular level.
13% organic matter is too high.....you want it at about 5%. 8% is the max.
Removing K and Na from native soil is best accomplished by growing pumpkins for a year or two without fertilizing with K....
I've always used Peat for the indoor stuff. Outdoors I'm a huge fan of native soil amending.
Gaffle
Well-Known Member
Right on. Thx hommes!
Fresh smoke for all!!!
Fresh smoke for all!!!
PCaddict
Member
Why is Dolomite lime bad ? I thought it was a good buffer ? Most soil mixes I have seen on the net. have used Dolomite Lime . What is your thoughts about Gro Kashi ?
Dolomite lime is not preferred because of it's very high Magnesium levels (Ca , Mg ratio of approx. 2-1...way too high for our purposes.) Plus it promotes soil compaction which we do NOT want. To maintain a favorable Ca to Mg ratios , stick to Ag Lime or agricultural limestone, which is very high in usable Ca , which is wat we're after. Hope this helps some . Cheers eh.
Doc will have a much better explanation than me, prolly shortly.
Doc will have a much better explanation than me, prolly shortly.
PCaddict
Member
I am still learning and I appreciate the feed back Thank You
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- #23,611
Yep. Like Duggan said:
Dolomite is a good buffer.....yep. But, it's no better than high Calcium Limestone at buffering. If you add Dolomite to buffer, your Ca/Mg ratio will be off......but if you use CaCO3 as recommended you'll have the buffering ability AND you won't be overloaded with Mg.
Even if you wanted the extra Mg, Dolomite is a poor source of it compared to other things.
Don't use it!!!
StoneyMemoirs
Well-Known Member
Just checked out your Insta...good stuff! After She dries out again, and a plain watering next (maybe with a small splash of Tea and Trans in there), you're at the stage when I'd do a normal Transplant Drench, with a Brix foliar sometime between now and then. Looks decent--right on the edge, pushing!! You'll love the DDA smoke if you haven't grown her yet. Cheers!My Dark devil auto is 29 days old today. Did some LST on monday and noticed the pot was light enough so I did a nice, slow, top down watering with GI and Tea. Stayed around the outside edge of the pot and watered to runoff. Wednesday night (lights come on at 8pm) I did a Destress Foliar spray, just a very light misting on the underside of the leaves. She is looking very happy
StoneyMemoirs
Well-Known Member
Hey Gaffle,Right on. Thx hommes!
Fresh smoke for all!!!
Just wanted to chime in on Doc's advice--I'm doing exactly this now in an old outdoor patch that was being grown in by old-school organic folks, now growing several varieties of squash in that soil to heal it. We're already seeing improvements in the N P and K in the latest soil testing--it works! Just remember you'll probably still need to re-up on some calcium and trace mineral inputs (not to mention some microbes and myco boosts) as time goes on. Cheers!
PCaddict
Member
Thank You , Your help is Much appreciated I am trying to soak in as much information as I can and I have got a lot of help from members here.
PCaddict
Member
Hay I just found this Doc That is one hell of a plant/Bush
Yeah thats one of Stage's girls. He grew some monsters!
PCaddict
Member
Here is another ……………………………………………………………..
PCaddict
Member
So I just put the Oly Mountain mix LOS in a fabric bag 10gal. and some Fox Farm Happy Frog and Ocean Forest compost in two other 10gal. pots I added some worms to each pot and put some clover seed on top for a cover crop. How would I increase the Brix of these soils ? Are the High Brix system or products on the ZON synthetic or salt based / will it hurt the Oly mix ? I want a living soil are these products ok to use on living soil ? Will it hurt the living stuff in the soil ? Is it organic amendments you add to your soil ? I have a post, "I need a good super soil recipe" have I been told wrong info on that thread ?
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- #23,619
Doc Bud's High Brix Blend products are NOT synthetic. They are all derived from natural sources. High Brix is not only living soil....it is hyperactive living soil. Far from hurting the soil, our products bring it to life. I can say with 100% confidence that
No Soil is more "living" than High Brix Soil.
As far as using my products in your LOS project, other than Tea, Roots! and Snake Oil, they are not compatible. Your soil has massive amounts of potassium and it is simply impossible to get high brix in it. Adding my products won't help, since they require microbial action to break down, and your soil is far too loaded up with organic matter to produce the microbial action required to break down the rocks.....
I suggest you do some research. BTW, square pegs never fit easily into round holes.....
Gaffle
Well-Known Member
Hey Gaffle,
Just wanted to chime in on Doc's advice--I'm doing exactly this now in an old outdoor patch that was being grown in by old-school organic folks, now growing several varieties of squash in that soil to heal it. We're already seeing improvements in the N P and K in the latest soil testing--it works! Just remember you'll probably still need to re-up on some calcium and trace mineral inputs (not to mention some microbes and myco boosts) as time goes on. Cheers!
Gotcha. I'm not having a problem right now. I don't know the right ratio of K to Ca, but my K is substantially lower than my Ca. More research abounds. My soil test told me nothing about Na.
Both of these plants hit 14 brix, but plant on left was a boy so, culled it was. I've seen first hand insects eat a leaf and leave it. Swamp weed was right next to this grow and aphids covered it. I saw one aphid on my plants, no others. It's very impervious to pests right now. Interested to see what the fall weather does to these plants. All of this was from Docs teachings.