Flump
Well-Known Member
Amazing! I'm jealous! Do you have a journal?I got from Vito himself…..
Doc Bud's High Brix Q&A With Pictures
- Thread starter Doc Bud
- Start date
A fig journal? I am only a few days into my FIG obsession. I went to buy a few and walked away, after a few trips, with his entire collection! Oopsy Daisy!
420
Founder
Thought you all might like a list of all high brix journals on the site.
You can discuss them and add to them.
You can discuss them and add to them.
List of High Brix Cannabis Grow Journals
Below is an up to date list of all high brix grow journals on our website. Feel free to use this thread for highlighting new high brix grow journals and enjoy related discussions...
www.420magazine.com
That's AWESOME, Brother!I got from Vito himself…..
I used to collect figs, too, but down to only a couple varieties, now (they don't do as well in the tropics and wanted to grow more of a variety) and, coincidentally, just harvested one a couple of hours ago.
I've never grown them using the kit but I would imagine it would need to be adjusted somewhat, though, you could probably adjust the soil and the kit would work fine.
Be careful where you purchase your figs! I've spent some premium $$$'s a few times for species like Black Madeira, etc. only to find out a few years later, when they finally fruit, that it's not what I paid for. For example, the figs on the last "Black Madeira" I purchased ended up being green!
Holy crap, that's a lot of 'em! Thanks for the links.
Gee64
Well-Known Member
Does anyone have a currently active high brix grow journal going? I would love to tag along.
I have one currently in flower Here it’s also in my signature. Will have some veg plants here soon also.
medmanmike
Well-Known Member
Gee64
Well-Known Member
Do you all use The Kit, or are any of you doing high brix on your own with ammendments and such?
With a couple exceptions, everyone here has been using Doc Bud's High Brix Blend. @Conradino23 in Italy and @Amy Gardner in Australia both sourced peat in their own countries and amended with local materials. Amy might have shipped amendment from Doc ... 
Doc's kit has been carefully blended, first for tomatoes and then fine tuned for cannabis. There's a lab that has been working with high brix soil amendments for hobby gardens and small outdoor plots, and they've also developed foliar sprays that stimulate root exudates. The Kit was designed so amateurs can turn out high brix weed - you just follow instructions for the first grow or two. It almost always turns out superior produce. The trick is to start with a standard soil. The Kit is designed specifically for Pro-Mix HP. Most soils are too "fortified" - too much potassium and organic matter. Once you've added the amendment and a bag of earthworm casting, let it "cook" for a month, you have soil that is perfect for Brix and will respond to the foliars as well. From there, it's easy peasy.
It's nice to run into another grower who takes brix readings. I went for a year or more, testing a dozen plants a week.
It's a little tricky, though - kind of an art. As you know, time of day matters, soil moisture matters. I can game the readings if I want higher ones. 
It's a guide, not a great measure. A lot of things affect brix.
Doc's kit has been carefully blended, first for tomatoes and then fine tuned for cannabis. There's a lab that has been working with high brix soil amendments for hobby gardens and small outdoor plots, and they've also developed foliar sprays that stimulate root exudates. The Kit was designed so amateurs can turn out high brix weed - you just follow instructions for the first grow or two. It almost always turns out superior produce. The trick is to start with a standard soil. The Kit is designed specifically for Pro-Mix HP. Most soils are too "fortified" - too much potassium and organic matter. Once you've added the amendment and a bag of earthworm casting, let it "cook" for a month, you have soil that is perfect for Brix and will respond to the foliars as well. From there, it's easy peasy.
It's nice to run into another grower who takes brix readings. I went for a year or more, testing a dozen plants a week.
It's a little tricky, though - kind of an art. As you know, time of day matters, soil moisture matters. I can game the readings if I want higher ones. It's a guide, not a great measure. A lot of things affect brix.
Gee64
Well-Known Member
Yeah everything affects them really. I have always used brix readings to tell me if I am getting dialed in, I never really thought about it as a commercial product until I heard of Doc Bud.With a couple exceptions, everyone here has been using Doc Bud's High Brix Blend. @Conradino23 in Italy and @Amy Gardner in Australia both sourced peat in their own countries and amended with local materials. Amy might have shipped amendment from Doc ...
Doc's kit has been carefully blended, first for tomatoes and then fine tuned for cannabis. There's a lab that has been working with high brix soil amendments for hobby gardens and small outdoor plots, and they've also developed foliar sprays that stimulate root exudates. The Kit was designed so amateurs can turn out high brix weed - you just follow instructions for the first grow or two. It almost always turns out superior produce. The trick is to start with a standard soil. The Kit is designed specifically for Pro-Mix HP. Most soils are too "fortified" - too much potassium and organic matter. Once you've added the amendment and a bag of earthworm casting, let it "cook" for a month, you have soil that is perfect for Brix and will respond to the foliars as well. From there, it's easy peasy.
It's nice to run into another grower who takes brix readings. I went for a year or more, testing a dozen plants a week.
Now it's being promoted more often. You see it in magazines and online articles for both weed and food. Doc probably had a hand in raising it's popularity.
If you are growing organically anyways, especially for food, it kinda makes sense.
I never really followed a system, I just added things that promote photosynthesis. Calcium phosphorus, and microbes mostly, with some good soil carbon to get things rolling.
It's time to see how Doc does it instead of winging it.
...I bought a refractometer years ago, to measure brix, but struggled to get enuff' moisture to get a reading...what is your process GT?...cheerz... ...h00k...
...h00k...
...I bought a refractometer years ago, to measure brix, but struggled to get enuff' moisture to get a reading...what is your process GT?...cheerz...
How to take brix measurements
You gotta squeeze pretty hard.
Thanks, @Graytail ! I, too, have struggled to get the magic drops to release themselves. I'll give it a go with these tips and tricks.
medmanmike
Well-Known Member
Are you aware of Doc's website? DOC BUD's HIGH BRIX BLEND
Gee64
Well-Known Member
No I wasn't. Thank You
. I have been doing my own thing to raise brix without realizing it had been commercialized. I have seen a few products here and there that claim to do it but they are mostly gimicks and definitely not a full system like what Doc offers.
What level of brix should one expect when using the kit correctly?
Is the 32% his Lemon Paki advertises the brix level or the thc percentage?
My home soil blend consistently pulls 21-22 brix and my last adjustment peaked at 26 in late veg but I don't pluck leaves in flower so I'm not sure what it's at now.
I took a leaf from mid plant from all 4 plants, combined and pressed them, and they averaged 23.5.
I take my brix learnings from weed growing, and transfer it to my veggie patch to grow denser food. Weed is good to practice on because it grows so fast that you see immediate results when you make changes.
I base everything on the fact that more photosynthesis makes more sugar. My worm farm plays a large part in it. I start my mineralization there.
I see he uses foliars but I haven't gone that route. If my microbes need a boost I use molasses or organic cane sugar in a tea. I do use a ton of calcium as it is key in organics.
Seeing Doc recognize calcium on his website makes me happy, as I have been all alone on this journey and have no guidance.
I base everything on a full mineral soil and then concentrate on calcium, carbon, phosphorus, oxygen, and microbes/fungii.
I have found that cold hydrolysed fish fertilizer really keeps the fungii happy and fungii dictates the overall grow management.
So I get all that rolling and scramble to keep up. Growing weed from seed in a 10 gallon pot is hard to keep up with as 10 gallons isn't much, but it lets you know quickly when you screw up.
Magnesium is always a bugger but when you get it right and adjust it throughout the grow to bend your calcium charge, it adjusts your nitrogen which also seems important. Likely because it lowers your water content which means denser sap, but I'm not quite sure on that part yet.
Basically I studied what would be "perfect nature" and have been dialing that in. Nature does know best it turns out.
I never thought about using foliars to stimulate the initial boost to enter the carbon cycle but it makes perfect sense. I went the other way and introduced the boost through the roots like nature would.
I guess all the foliars are done pre flower?
medmanmike
Well-Known Member
Ge64, well, you obviously know a lot about Brix! I understand the value of high Brix but haven’t gotten into nuts and bolts of how it works. Instead, I trust Doc and other users as evidenced by the quality of weed we grow.No I wasn't. Thank You
I have been doing my own thing to raise brix without realizing it had been commercialized. I have seen a few products here and there that claim to do it but they are mostly gimicks and definitely not a full system like what Doc offers.
What level of brix should one expect when using the kit correctly?
Is the 32% his Lemon Paki advertises the brix level or the thc percentage?
My home soil blend consistently pulls 21-22 brix and my last adjustment peaked at 26 in late veg but I don't pluck leaves in flower so I'm not sure what it's at now.
I took a leaf from mid plant from all 4 plants, combined and pressed them, and they averaged 23.5.
I take my brix learnings from weed growing, and transfer it to my veggie patch to grow denser food. Weed is good to practice on because it grows so fast that you see immediate results when you make changes.
I base everything on the fact that more photosynthesis makes more sugar. My worm farm plays a large part in it. I start my mineralization there.
I see he uses foliars but I haven't gone that route. If my microbes need a boost I use molasses or organic cane sugar in a tea. I do use a ton of calcium as it is key in organics.
Seeing Doc recognize calcium on his website makes me happy, as I have been all alone on this journey and have no guidance.
I base everything on a full mineral soil and then concentrate on calcium, carbon, phosphorus, oxygen, and microbes/fungii.
I have found that cold hydrolysed fish fertilizer really keeps the fungii happy and fungii dictates the overall grow management.
So I get all that rolling and scramble to keep up. Growing weed from seed in a 10 gallon pot is hard to keep up with as 10 gallons isn't much, but it lets you know quickly when you screw up.
Magnesium is always a bugger but when you get it right and adjust it throughout the grow to bend your calcium charge, it adjusts your nitrogen which also seems important. Likely because it lowers your water content which means denser sap, but I'm not quite sure on that part yet.
Basically I studied what would be "perfect nature" and have been dialing that in. Nature does know best it turns out.
I never thought about using foliars to stimulate the initial boost to enter the carbon cycle but it makes perfect sense. I went the other way and introduced the boost through the roots like nature would.
I guess all the foliars are done pre flower?
Early on I would measure Brix but don’t any more. Over time one can tell when the Brix is high.
I’m sure others will jump in here - I believe a Brix of 20-21 is pretty good.
Doc’s test result on his web site is total cannabinoids , not Brix.
The Brix foliar spray is designed to be used every week to 10 days throughout the growth cycle. Here is the application description
“Application: Spray the undersides of the leaves in the morning/before lights come on. We spray the lower side of the leaves as the waxy protective coating on the leaves is thinner there, and it tends to make better use of the plant's stomata. The act of spraying leaves with a High Brix soil and a properly designed foliar feed results in the plant increasing the amount of root exudates, exciting and stimulating the microbial life in the soil.”
There’s a lot more information on the use of the foliars on Docs site. Here’s some additional info:
“Utilizing Your Foliar Sprays
Fill your spray bottle with water; for most folks, 1/2 quart is plenty to completely cover the plants undersides of the leaves) in a fine mist.
Then, measure the appropriate amount of Brix, De-Stress, or Leaf Wash into the bottle depending on where you are in your grow schedule. Shake and apply to your plants immediately.
For a video on how we do it, see below.
Only De-Stress may be stored for up to 1 week in the fridge. While any spraying/misting device can be made to work, generally speaking the finer the mist the better.
Did you know?
A good foliar spray will include phosphate in its nutrient package. Phosphates are the energy source in ATP. ATP drives the Krebs cycle in plants.Increasing phosphates in the plant through foliar spraying allows the Krebs cycle to transfer more energy within the plants.
This allows the plant to be more efficient in storing energy as sugars from the process of photosynthesis.
Some of these additional sugars are sent down to the roots which excrete exudates. These root exudates act as a food source for the bacterial colonies around the roots. These bacteria respond to the extra food by making more minerals available to the plant--which is happy to absorb the additional nutrients and minerals, increasing the total dissolved solids in the plant.
This registers as a rise in brix.
Gee64
Well-Known Member
That makes total sense. It's actually ingenious. You introduce phosphorus but not through the soil so the fungii doesn't get pissy
. I would guess you only do it once in awhile as a surprise so the system doesn't get used to free phosphorus.
I went the other route and have been finding ways to make phosphorus more readily available through the soil but not pissing the fungus off.
I'm not sure if I want to foliar my weed but for veggies this could be fantastic.
I will certainly test it on weed though
I need to figure out a foliar. Phosphorus is forever so if you can harmlessly give a few injections that will add up. This is a cool approach.
I'm not sure what DeStress would be but I use hydrolysed fish ferts regularly to destress my fungii which destresses the plant. I wonder if it's similar. When I get a stressed seedling I foliar the fish ferts on it and it usually turns it around.
I find getting brix up is relatively easy. Calcium does a good job at it.
Keeping it up is a different story. It can fluctuate fast.