Doc Bud's High Brix Q&A With Pictures

[Doc Bud]

Right, so I guess my question is, is if you put the soil in proper ratio using rock phosphates and green sand for the P and K, how do the sprays/drenches encourage growth? They sound like they are just ferts with higher NPK values.

First of all, don't use greensand. It's loaded with potassium. In fact, I don't even carry it. Kelp meal is a much better addition to the soil if you need to boost potassium a bit to bring it in line with phosphorus.

Phosphorus is extremely important because that's how the plants move things around internally....with phosphates. When we foliar spray, we increase sugars, phosphorus and calcium, which the plant sends to the roots via root exudates. That's how the plant works....it sends stuff from the leaves to the roots. It does this with or without foliar sprays, but the right foliar spray increases this process.

Root exudates is how the plant feeds the soil. Exudates are how the microbes get their sugar---unless you mess that up with molasses----and this sugar also carries "markers" from the plant that signal the microbes to go fetch something the plant wants.

Foliar sprays are like a turbocharger for this process. Increase the exudates, and the microbes increase their activities and the plant becomes nutrient dense.

That's how it works.

 

[Doc Bud]

Doc, correct me if I'm wrong..

The drenches change the ionic balance toward growth energy or reproductive energy.

The sprays influence the roots to produce exudes influencing the biota in the soil to breakdown nutrients to a readily available source for the roots.

Yep! That's basically it.

 

[Doc Bud]

Doc, I'm digging the whole low potassium thing, but are you sure phosphorus should be in equal ppm to potassium? Let me put it like that, I'm starting to see basic soil's NPK as 3-1-2, with healhy biota in the soil and abundance of calcium carbonate, magnesium, silica etc. Would you say it's in the ball park or phosphorus should be brought up a bit? I've read some soil analysis where they stated 50-85 ppm of phosphorus as perfect for plant's growth, overabundance of this mineral being as bad as too much potassium and nitrogen. What I want to do this season is to start measuring Brix to see what's happening with metabolism, but I'll be doing it outdoor, which brings me to another question, Doc. I've read a lot of times that applying ProMix + EWC approach outdoor doesn't cut it, cause plants eat that for breakfast when growing. Could that be that with bigger plants need for potassium is bigger, cause they need much more nitrogen and phosphorus for sure? Just pondering this thought, but maybe you could answer that as I just applied organic calcium carbonate and crushed volcanic rock, some blood meal, and want to move towards EWC and bat guano, although I'd add just a touch, maybe an ounce per foot square. What do you think?

Yes, I am 100% sure that P and K should be equal.

As for 3-1-2, how many pounds per acre of each? You also want to keep the nitrogen LOW, because you'll be adding it in drenches AND the plants will fix it from the atmosphere via microbial action.

As for overabundance of minerals, most of what I add to my soil isn't available to the plant without microbial action, so nothing is the least bit over abundant. Quite the opposite, actually.

It sounds like you've got a plan, and you're following it. It's not what I do, neither is it what the lab recommends for nutrient dense produce, but it sounds like it's what you're doing, so I hope it works great for you!

 

[Conradino23]

Ok, so that brings me to go with bat guano anyway. The thing is that I have a high organic matter content which provides me with potassium and nitrogen in abundance. Also my soil is high in magnesium, so more calcium is needed mainly, which I add over the years together with trace minerals via hyperaccumulators. What I want to do is to check what kind of Brix reading I'm gonna get with that kind of approach and if it's too low I'm gonna try to up it somehow. I know it's impossible to say what's the exact mineral composition without lab analysis, but at least I'm gonna know what's happening with the plants.

 

[Doc Bud]

Too much organic matter decreases microbial action. They like minerals! Think of virgin volcanic soil where no animal has ever pooped.....it's all about the minerals.

Why not get a soil test? I don't understand why someone wouldn't want to KNOW what to do with their soil.

I tested all kinds of soil, back when I started. I though my supersoil was going to do really well, but it failed MISERABLY. It had the guano, blood/bone meal, dolomite, etc. NO BUENO.

The first crop I grew in proper soil was like turning on the lights.

 

[Conradino23]

I think I'm gonna get it testes eventually. I have to find an Italian lab to do it Thx Doc!

 

[SweetSue]

Too much organic matter decreases microbial action. They like minerals! Think of virgin volcanic soil where no animal has ever pooped.....it's all about the minerals.

Why not get a soil test? I don't understand why someone wouldn't want to KNOW what to do with their soil.

The only reasons I have are practicability and cost. On my budget, testing isn't an option. Growing only two plants at a time, I don't see it as being practical.

If I were doing some serious numbers, like some of you, testing would be a given. Until such a day, I will pay close attention and tweak my micro grow soil based on what I learn.

 

[Doc Bud]

The only reasons I have are practicability and cost. On my budget, testing isn't an option. Growing only two plants at a time, I don't see it as being practical.

If I were doing some serious numbers, like some of you, testing would be a given. Until such a day, I will pay close attention and tweak my micro grow soil based on what I learn.

INdeed, but you started out with a plan that has science behind it, something that is both tried and true.

A hobby grower need not get all the testing done all the time, because others have done the testing and have provided an easy way to duplicate via soil recipes and the like.

On the other hand, here's my story:

I started off knowing a fair bit about organic vegetable gardening. I'm also pretty well educated in basic science and know how to read scientific literature AND I know how to learn.

Even so, when I went on the pot forums to learn how to grow cannabis, I came to the conclusion that it was unique and cultivating it was unlike any other plant. I never pH'd my veggie garden......

Well, after a couple grows I realized that cannabis is no different than a tomato. A good tomato farmer can be a good cannabis farmer. It's a good place to start, anyways.

So, I began to move towards organic supersoils, because I heard they were 'super' and they made sense. I had very good results!

Then, as I began to learn about nutrient density and what makes really good vegetables it led me into the HIgh Brix concept and so I went about DIY high brix soil.

I "invented" (not really, just distilled information the best I could) the 6-5-3 rock powder ratio's. I started to mineralize super soil and had even better results than with regular supersoil.

Then, I started learning about the calcium/potassium ratio and thought that my soil was probably ideal....so I got it tested and it failed MISERABLY. So I tested another, and another and another.....and soon realized that any soil that came already fertilized was probably going to fail......and finally found Promix passed.....barely. Potassium was right on the cusp of being too high, but it was workable.

What I'm trying to say is that DIY taken to it's logical end results in a soil test! And my DIY failed.....

So, once I got a base soil that could be worked with, I humbly followed the lab's fertility recommendations and the rest is all documented on these forums. No bugs, no disease, very little staking up of plants....and really nice product.

I'm still doing DIY, btw. I start with a lab designed soil and then do little things here and there to see what happens. I have a refractometer to test results in real time, and a lab to test the soil when I think I might have done something good.

The point is that I start with a proper soil and I know exactly how much of what I added to it. I'm not trying to re-invent the wheel every run....someone else already invented the wheel.

There's nothing wrong with playing around in the garden! It's a wonderful, healthy hobby. But if you're trying to grow the very best you can grow why not start with the right soil? There's still plenty of room to tweak and change and still stay in the Nutrient Dense zone....add a bit of iron on one run....just a small amount of something else on another run and see what subtle changes in the produce occur....all while keeping brix up in the teens.

That's my idea of DIY. Instead of seeking nutrient density via trial and error.....just START THERE and then DIY your way into exotic flavors and smells.

 

[Conradino23]

That sounds really reasonable, Doc! I don't need to work my way up into exotic flavors, cause I already have them, but I'm very curious what happens If I move towards your approach. I hope my plants will test around 12-14 Brix in veg, and if they don't lesson will be learnt!

 

[Doc Bud]

That sounds really reasonable, Doc! I don't need to work my way up into exotic flavors, cause I already have them, but I'm very curious what happens If I move towards your approach. I hope my plants will test around 12-14 Brix in veg, and if they don't lesson will be learnt!

Just remember that dead grass clippings will test out really high.....as will crispy fan leaves.

When you test, always do it exactly the same way, every single time and use this to establish a baseline for YOUR garden and your plants.

The signs of High Brix cannabis are:

1. overall plant vigor
2. bright green stems that do not require nearly as much support
3. bright green/light green, shiny, waxy leaves that are perky and turgid
4. green petioles. When mine are purple on top and green on the bottom I"m at about 12 brix. When they are green on the top 3 nodes and purple on the lower half of the plant, I'm at about 14 brix. When all of them are green AND 1-3 above are present, I'm usually in the 16 range.

5. absence of insect pressure....not necessarily the absence of insects. I can find the rare mite or thripe in my garden, but they can't seen to breed very well and don't do any damage to the plants.

I've seen people here test crispy, yellowed plants and come up with some really high numbers. Again, the testing must be done on healthy tissue and must be done the same way every time. Don't bother testing if 1-3 aren't happening.

Below are some examples of varying degrees of brix and what the plants look like. These are all a few days overdue for a foliar spray, after which the purple-on-top petioles will turn green, hopefully. The lower fan leaves often stay purple after 3 or 4 weeks of bloom, as they will be dropped by the plant soon anyways. But the upper ones should be green.

 

[Conradino23]

1-3 always happen in my garden and leaves are usually full of juice. I read Grey's tutorial somewhere, and there he explains to pick a fan leaf from the middle of the plant every time. I'm gonna try it, I bought a refractometer already

 

[Doc Bud]

1-3 always happen in my garden and leaves are usually full of juice. I read Grey's tutorial somewhere, and there he explains to pick a fan leaf from the middle of the plant every time. I'm gonna try it, I bought a refractometer already

Very cool!

 

[SweetSue]

That was like a primer on what to watch for as I augment the soil. The points on petioles were particularly insightful. I have work to do.

Thanks Doc.

 

[Governmentchz]

Yeah, I don't say much in here usually, but it's worse than game of thrones...blink and you miss something.

 

[SweetSue]

Yeah, I don't say much in here usually, but it's worse than game of thrones...blink and you miss something. J

Amen to that! Miss a day and you're five pages back.

 

[Major PITA]

Amen to that! Miss a day and you're five pages back.

...at least!

 

[SweetSue]

And we're not talking five pages of fluff. That's five pages of stuff you wish you'd caught while it was going on! Like mental gymnastics.

 

[Doc Bud]

And we're not talking five pages of fluff. That's five pages of stuff you wish you'd caught while it was going on! Like mental gymnastics.

Most of it gets repeated, so no worries.

SloTown and i just made the first of many YouTube video's. When editing is done they'll be posted on a soon-to-be DocBud's channel and the 420mag channel once a few things take place.

They're short and hopefully informative. I'm going to document pretty much everything I do in the garden, along with the usual unsolicited advice, fish stories and negative opinions on most subjects!

Should be great!

Here they are 2 days after CatDrench.....the resin just appears....
Also, some examples of a plant that is really in the high brix zone....all petioles are green, leaves are perky and waxy/shiny, etc.

 

[Duggan]

Good day Doc and Gang.Holy smokes....go away for a week and now i don't have time to catch up.Doc...can't wait to check out your tube stuff with 420 mag. Sounds like it's gonna cook!
Anyhow,no problems with my grow....all is good....gotta grab a few supplies soon Doc. Catch up with you later. Have a great night Gang and many congrats to our contest winners....Way to kill it Gray! Cheers....Duggs.

 

[BreezeEazy]

First of all, don't use greensand. It's loaded with potassium. In fact, I don't even carry it. Kelp meal is a much better addition to the soil if you need to boost potassium a bit to bring it in line with phosphorus.

Phosphorus is extremely important because that's how the plants move things around internally....with phosphates. When we foliar spray, we increase sugars, phosphorus and calcium, which the plant sends to the roots via root exudates. That's how the plant works....it sends stuff from the leaves to the roots. It does this with or without foliar sprays, but the right foliar spray increases this process.

Root exudates is how the plant feeds the soil. Exudates are how the microbes get their sugar---unless you mess that up with molasses----and this sugar also carries "markers" from the plant that signal the microbes to go fetch something the plant wants.

Foliar sprays are like a turbocharger for this process. Increase the exudates, and the microbes increase their activities and the plant becomes nutrient dense.

That's how it works.

Makes sense. Good info, doc. I guess I don't see how greensand can have too much potassium, I can see applying too much potassium by applying too much greensand, but the same is true for kelp meal. I'd think greensand would be safer being that it is slow releasing. Anyways, thanks for the good info! Currently on page 139 of the Q&A and page 26 of in the lab with doc. Lots of goodies in here, very time consuming.