How not to be a salt farmer or a wasteful grower tips

Extraction for RSO/CCO:
I stopped at liquor warehouse I use for stocking up on my spirytus for extraction to re-up yesterday. Up until this year they always just carried them in 750ml size for 19.99 or so. When I looked yesterday they had the 1/2ga versions on display right next to the Everclear in same sizes. Price is up to $24 for the 750ml and $53 for the 1/2 gallon handle version whereas everclear was only $35 for a handle. I still bought a couple handles of spirytus but also a couple handles of everclear to cut costs a little. I mean how much of a difference can there really be between a 95% variety and a 96% one. My reasoning in past was that Spirytus is considered food grade and would be safer if any residuals hadn’t been evaporated but I’ve made with both and never had an ill effects from it so I’m rethinking my strategy and most likely switching to everclear going forward.
 
I've used this for alcohol extraction and it has worked well for me. And it's cheap!! I think I paid $4 or $5 per bottle! :)

Cane sugar alcohol.jpg


When you test for BRIX is there a specific part of the plant you use or does your test site vary? I was introduced to BRIX from a friend of mine that owns a vineyard. He would crush the grapes and use the refractometer to know when the grapes were at their highest sugar content.
 
Yes, for MJ you just want fan leaf material for testing, you can test other parts but by all accounts I’ve heard the fan leaves are what matters. And best readings are typically achieved on a clear sunny day between 1-3PM
 
Trump said:
I've used this for alcohol extraction and it has worked well for me. And it's cheap!! I think I paid $4 or $5 per bottle! :)

Cane sugar alcohol.jpg


When you test for BRIX is there a specific part of the plant you use or does your test site vary? I was introduced to BRIX from a friend of mine that owns a vineyard. He would crush the grapes and use the refractometer to know when the grapes were at their highest sugar content.
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And where do you find that alcohol???!!!???
 
budnoob3 said:
And where do you find that alcohol???!!!???
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Whenever I'm in Mexico I'll buy a case. If I don't use it for extraction it makes a great mixer to bump up the volume at any party!!! 😄

They make it from sugar cane so I would imagine its closest to rum as far as alcohol but it's pure alcohol without anything else. Perfect for extraction!
 
Trump said:
Whenever I'm in Mexico I'll buy a case. If I don't use it for extraction it makes a great mixer to bump up the volume at any party!!! 😄

They make it from sugar cane so I would imagine its closest to rum as far as alcohol but it's pure alcohol without anything else. Perfect for extraction!
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God I envy you CA, NM people at times :), if I tried to go and bring back that 3 letter you know who would be up my but like a 3 legged gerbil on meth!
 
budnoob3 said:
A little more talk about bugs and undesirable critters since it’s been coming up so frequently. I can share my honest perspective from my experience and what I’ve seen or witnessed so please don’t take as gospel truth. I know for a fact and seen others that have been way more successful than I at managing this issue. What I do consider truth based on my experience and what I’ve seen is that people can come very close to eliminating pest problems by at least 80%. I personally have never reached that goal, if I’m being optimistic I’d say I’ve reached at most the 65-70% level. The other truths for me are that the healthier the plant is or the higher the brix level the lower the pest problem becomes. This actually became evident to me when I was doing high brix testing. The highest I ever achieved turns out to be 22 on the refractometer and not coincidentally the period based on notes where I did the least pest management ever in my gardening journals. Problem is I only knew what directions told me to do with no real clue about ratio of contents in anything I was using. The best I’ve ever seen out of my methods was an 18 back in MN after trying to amend old knowledge with some new without leveraging a kit. I lost refractometer on move to NC and hadn’t used since but assumed I was doing ok based upon my subjective opinion of plants appearance and health over the years since. Now, a little while back I ordered a replacement and discovered I was in the sub 12 brix range which is just below where it’s supposed to be for pest management. At least recent readings have been in the 12-13 range which is good but not optimal. Hence I’m still and almost always have been doing the neem and SNS treatments. You’ll hear things like bugs hate sugar so as long as your above 12 the bugs will completely go away, or the bugs will move on to less healthy plants and so on. I do agree there’s some truth there, but I have never reached that utopian goal with kits or otherwise. I know I can get there one day if it’s possible, and even better I know we can get there all together much sooner if we all work on it together as a team! I have no desire to reverse engineer or steal someone’s recipe so I propose we figure it out together as a team :)
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How fuzzy is your brix indicator line? If it's not really fuzzy you don't have enough calcium present to achieve high brix.

If you get your calcium line nice and fuzzy, then feed the fungus to get it mining phosphorus, your brix will climb, but calcium needs to be fixed 1st.

If you check the calcium line on everything in your yard, then fix the crisper ones, not only will the brix of everything climb, the brix of your compost will climb because of healthier inputs.

Then next year you are starting from higher ground.
 
Gee64 said:
How fuzzy is your brix indicator line? If it's not really fuzzy you don't have enough calcium present to achieve high brix.

If you get your calcium line nice and fuzzy, then feed the fungus to get it mining phosphorus, your brix will climb, but calcium needs to be fixed 1st.

If you check the calcium line on everything in your yard, then fix the crisper ones, not only will the brix of everything climb, the brix of your compost will climb because of healthier inputs.

Then next year you are starting from higher ground.
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My line has been consistently very fuzzy so I have been subtracting at least 1 to 2 brix of what I’ve been reporting. So I’m safely at 12 with good Ca so far. Also, haven’t seen as many pests lately, but as I mentioned, I’d estimate I’m closer to max of 60-70% reduction - not that magic 80% or more I’ve seen achieved by others.
 
Visiting my buddy getting ready to watch Baltimore vs KC game. Same buddy I set up with late clone in pot using @Bill284 layering method and apparently I’m already failing as a mentor. Don’t know what he did, have a feeling he’s not admitting to something because every other one shared is doing great. But here’s his today!

IMG_2425.jpeg
 
budnoob3 said:
Visiting my buddy getting ready to watch Baltimore vs KC game. Same buddy I set up with late clone in pot using @Bill284 layering method and apparently I’m already failing as a mentor. Don’t know what he did, have a feeling he’s not admitting to something because every other one shared is doing great. But here’s his today!

IMG_2425.jpeg
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Looks a little burnt buddy.
Possibly poor roots and high ppms?



Stay safe
Bill284 😎
 
Bill284 said:
Looks a little burnt buddy.
Possibly poor roots and high ppms?



Stay safe
Bill284 😎
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That’s the conundrum, has only had one low dose feed since delivered and using same inputs/teas as my garden. Only thing he could be doing differently is throwing city water from his tap which he’s been strictly been told to avoid. Only other thing I noticed different is he had it within 4’ of his fire pit so I dragged it another 10’ away for him :)
 
Trump said:
Looks like a grasshopper had a nice lunch!
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Not in this case, he rubbed off some of the crispy and dropped in the pot either to try to hide evidence or just because what I told him about leaving some dying material in pot :)
 
budnoob3 said:
Not in this case, he rubbed off some of the crispy and dropped in the pot either to try to hide evidence or just because what I told him about leaving some dying material in pot :)
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And to be clear I want everyone to know that I know 100% it has nothing to do with @Bill284 layering addition. In my way of thinking, if layering has anything to do with this it’s a great thing! Because if it does it means that even with my less is more strategy the plants got burned because my mix although light is being leveraged more by the additional aeration so the fix would be to use even less inputs which would be a great thing for all of us to know! I’m going to do a couple next run where I keep normal feeding schedule and another with an even lighter schedule to see what happens. Thanks Bill!!!!
 
I love the method you chose it's pretty much what I'm doing I just had no capital to start next year I'll do 100% organic. I just need fresh soil I'm using the dirt from my friends old grow so only he knows what's in it.... hopefully he knows lol. I only used super thrive, fish emulsion, molasses, cal mag, potash, bat guano and worm castings.
 
Gee64 said:
I had to take a drive to Alberta and grab a case for "Personal Consumption"

Start drivin'!🤣

The cold is the key. Anything cinstantly below -20 until it's in the still comes out like a greeny, goldy, cherry, or dark walnutty colored taffy that is beautiful.

Me either, what proof is it?
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In that regard, I keep all alcohol, bud and tools, containers used in freezer for about 48 hours and bring outdoors during winter months most times to perform extractions. And unlike many, I use only premium buds for my concentrates, the other stuff minus my special reserve premium stuff goes to edibles, worms, topping in pots and compost. Huge advantage for meds, and hence why I’ve never gotten any oils or concentrates from a 3rd party beyond the very early days when I didn’t have enough on hand to keep meds flowing.
 
Final thought before bed so I don’t forget. Gee asked about my calcium health and got me to thinking I should summarize why I’ve never had a Ca problem that I can remember. I think it mostly has to do with what grandpa showed me for making composts and using flour as a light dressing in the garden plus the weight of Ca. Why do I think that, I’ve touched on these points but think it’s good to consolidate. For one, the multiple compost piles and layering methods he taught me in addition to how to address deficiencies by balancing the contents of the multiple piles appropriately. The balanced primary pile is best for flower/fruit, by adding more from the high N pile during veg and higher EWC during veg it achieves desired results. He didn’t teach me in that vein but more in the this is when you want to take more from the pile that has more leaves and branches content, and this is when you want to use the balanced pile with less ewc but more bone meal etc. new knowledge is how I was able to correlate some of this stuff. Another aspect is the light flour dressing used which has Ca, N, Mg etc. and then there’s the fact that Ca is atomically heavier than most of the other nutes so the fact that I’m always pulling from bottom of compost for soil, teas and dressings which also happens to be the location with highest Ca content makes me believe those all contribute to me having been able to avoid problems there. Couple that with the replenishing with flour top dressing helps keep it flowing gradually through the soil. Plus the fact that we all love eggs, cheese, nuts, yogurt and so on and use all those as inputs in addition to all the other goodies in a balanced fashion helps. Also, we work like a community - the family and friends with space host the worm bins and piles while those without space just contribute and help collect desirable inputs. Good morning from me, should be sleeping but it was one of those help the wife close nights which tend to run late :) cheers!
 
Another quick tip about compost inputs and health. Back when we had our health scares we started juicing a lot and my 2 favorite recipes are:
Bundle of carraots, an apple or 2, and a handful of whatever berries we happen to have on hand for one.
Bunch of lemongrass, kale, cucumber, squeeze of lemon or lime, and beets for another.
The pulp created from making the juice always goes to compost pile and a smaller portion to worm bins.
Helped our health and our gardens!
 

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