Re: DopyLemontree's DocBud High Brix Soil Blend - Headband OG & Bubblegum Combo Grow
Good Morning DopyLemon,
First and foremost, and I'd like to mention Morglie here as well; I hope the best for both of your wives and yourselves. Ya'll are in my thoughts and I hope healing and better health is merely a step away for everyone involved. God bless.
Before I ask the question, let me state that the last 17 years of my career were centered around Brix; what it means, how it's affected by all types of variables and how to mitigate those variables. With that being said, I don't claim to know it all, but I've also been around the block a few times.
My questions are: When you state your refract gave you a Brix of let's say 12; what does that number mean to you? What does it represent in terms of what your 'kit' tells you? What is the correlation between Brix value in terms of cannabis leaves and the quality / potency of your flowers?
I'm not trying to be smart; I simply don't know those answers in terms of your mind, nor do I know the answers in terms of cannabis. I'm simply trying to learn, and it's quite possible, there is something to be learned here.
Anywho, your grow, both inside and out looks fantastic. You've got girls scattered all over the place; I'm jealous!
Have a great day...
Hey CC! Welcome aboard sir--new perspectives and experiences are always welcome in these parts. Here's a snippet about Brix copied/pasted below for you, as well with some more 'advanced' science below that--for those inclined.
For most of us, the kit seems to be the easiest way of consistently achieving 12+ Brix (for me, 13 and 14).
What is High Brix?
The strictly technical answer is that Brix is a measurement of how much light bends, or 'refracts' as it passes through plant sap. What causes light to bend?
1. The amount of carbohydrates in the plant sap.
2. The amount of dissolved minerals in the sap.
3. The amount of covalent bonding.
In other words: The more nutrients and sugars present in the plant sap, the higher the Brix reading and the more Nutrient-Dense that crop is. High Brix = Nutrient Density. Simple as that. The cool part is we can measure this any time we wish with a Refractometer.
--then---
The Four Foundations of High Brix Growing
If you want to grow the best produce in the world and get your plants to express their full genetic potential and enjoy the dankest, most terpene-laden harvest, there are four key things that simply must be present.
These are not suggestions, or a "style" of growing. These Four Foundations are hard science and they are an absolute "must" in order to achieve High Brix.
Everything below is based on the assumption that your plants will have a proper growing environment from seed to harvest.
If you are attempting to grow in a hostile environment, you simply will not get good results. On the other hand--given a proper environment, plants in High Brix soil will do some cool tricks. So, let's get started.
1. Mineralize the soil. By now, we all know about how corporate farming and sterile soils have ruined our food supply. We all know that organic, living soil is the way to go for healthy, delicious produce. With High Brix growing, we not only want living soil with organic ingredients as opposed to chemicals, but we want the maximum amount of life from the soil we can possibly get.
Research has shown that a large amount of calcium in the soil, with the right ratio of calcium-to-magnesium and a relatively low amount of organic matter (less than 8%) will allow the microbial life in the soil to thrive.
Think of a volcanic soil, full of minerals. Minerals are where it's at--this is what we're after in High Brix. Our amendments are designed to bring every mineral into the right ratio in the soil, making the microbes hyperactive and happy. Calcium is king here. No other mineral is as important in the soil as calcium and we've yet to find a commercial potting soil with even close to the optimal amount of calcium in it. High Brix soil is unlike any other SuperSoil, or potting soil out there. We have WAY MORE calcium than they do. The first surprise most growers get on their first High Brix crop is how strong the stems are and how much less support they need. Thank calcium for that!
2. Microbiology. Rock-based soil minerals are great, but often not readily available to the plant's roots without mycorrhiza--the symbiotic, beneficial bacteria and fungi that live in the soil. Our products contain specific microbes that make our herbaceous plants thrive. In addition, our microbes are born and raised eating rocks....not molasses! Proper microbes are happy to break down rocks and feed them to the plant, which is why they come along with finely ground rock powder. Microbes provide an army of highly skilled micro-cultivators that, if allowed to just do their thing, will produce the healthiest plants possible. High Brix gardening is massively fixated on microbial health in the soil.
3. Major and minor elements. Here, we're concerned about balance. Sure, we need N, P, and K. We also need Mg, S, Cu, Fe, and a bunch of other micronutrients. More importantly, we want them in the right balance. For example, we always aim for 18 times more calcium than potassium. Ditto phosphorus. We (yes, always) want between 6 and 10 times more calcium than magnesium. In addition, we want those trace elements present in the right (trace) amounts.
While common, It would be wrong to think that providing an abundance of everything to the plant will result in the plant grazing "smorgasbord" style and never lacking a thing. This type of approach does work in salt based or sterile farming methods, but in living soil we want to maximize microbial action--and having too much salt in the soil decreases microbial action. Having too much potassium or not enough phosphorus will do the same thing. So instead of over-abundance of everything, we've found balance is best. We're not worried about feeding the plant--We feed the soil, and let the microbes take care of the plants! They're far better at it than we are.
When everything is balanced and in the right ratios the plants get everything they could ever wish for, and in the most efficient manner possible; via microbial action in the soil. This is how plants were created to grow and we believe is unequivocally the best way to grow them.
4. Soil Energy. I'm sure most of us are familiar with the idea that our bodies are electric. Well, soil is also electric!
Not only can we measure voltage in soil, it turns out that this electric charge plays a crucial role in making plants grow. If the soil goes 'flat', with no measurable voltage, plants will not grow. If the soil is massively over-fertilized and super high voltage, plants will "burn" and not grow. But, with proper voltage, the plants spring to life and grow like crazy.
Soil energy is increased in two primary ways: The Nutrient Root Drench and Foliar Feeding.
With drenches we're directly increasing the electrical energy in the soil. Depending on the type of ionic charge in the drench, we can stimulate the plant and allow it to grow vegetatively, or reproductively. An example of this can be seen with two of the drenches we use: Growth Energy and Cat Drench.
Growth Energy is primarily supplying the Nitrate form of nitrogen, which has a negative ionic charge. Using this in the soil stimulates growth of leaves and stems and will bulk up fruits and flowers. At the other end of the spectrum is Cat Drench, short for Cationic root drench. Cat Drench features "cations" or positively charged ions, due to the ammonia form of nitrogen along with sulfates and phosphates. This positive charge also makes the plants grow, but instead of growing leaves and stems, they grow reproductive structures: calyxes, pistils, etc.
When we understand the natural cycle of plant growth we can time the application of these drenches to enhance nature, improve yield, and most of all, improve quality.
But wait, there's more!
Using root drenches is just one way of increasing soil energy. The other way is via Foliar Feeding which is feeding the soil via feeding the leaves. We can look at soil as the engine that grows the plant. However, we must also realize that photosynthesis feeds the soil! In this way, it's good to look at foliar feeding like a turbo charger on that soil engine.
When the soil is dialed in and the microbes are happily chomping away at rocks and delivering them to the plant as food, the plant produces sugars and other compounds in the leaves and sends them down to the roots in the form of Root Exudates. The microbes crave these sweet exudates and will work day and night eating rocks for a sweet hit of that sugar!
By using a properly designed foliar spray (which is itself a dilute nutrient solution), we can increase the plant's ability to photosynthesize more energy from the sun or indoor lighting as the case may be. This increased photosynthesis results in increased root exudates, which increases microbial activity, which increases plant health/vigor/produce....which increases photosynthesis, and around and around.
Foliar Feeding speeds up plant metabolism, increasing nutrient density, brix readings, plant health, and terpene and essential oil production. The trick here is to design a foliar spray that works properly.
Depending on the makeup of the spray, we can use the microbes to signal the plant to grow or to reproduce. It's very important to know what you're doing with foliar feeding, as using the wrong spray can result in stunted growth and decreased yield. Just spraying some crap on the plant because your cousin knows a guy in Mendo won't cut it!
These are the basics of High Brix Gardening. High Brix Soil is an organic-based, living soil that is meticulously designed for maximum microbial action and optimal soil energy. We go a step further and make those microbes into super-athletes by increasing root exudates using carefully designed foliar sprays.
This is nature's way of producing healthy plants. We bow in humility to the wisdom of God's nature and seek to help and assist the natural processes of soil, root, and stem by careful application of minerals and microbes....thus allowing them to do their magic.
If you read this and understand these simple concepts, you now have enough science to practically apply High Brix concepts and amaze your friends and family.
Questions? Just ask! I hope I don't speak out of turn when I say the gang here are all happy to help. Hope this helps give you some of our perspective and understanding. Cheers CC, this rip's for you!
Blue Dream hitting 13 brix, with 4 weeks to go, in 2nd run soil in the kit.
still soaking knowledge....
