- Thread starter
- #101
Re: Icemud's 8.0 LED/V-Scrog Blk Chry Cola, Harlequin, Purple Dragon, GDP,Green Candy
Dang, you have like 10 times the experience as me!! LOL I know where to come for answers when I get some land and need help growing monsters
I am going to PM you a bunch of links that I found helpful in my researching of high brix that I think you will find helpful too.
So if you want to go high brix with it... find out if you can get weak acid soil tests done with your soil. For high brix you want a pretty stripped soil to start with and you want to build it according to lab recommendations. The reason for this is all the minerals and organic materials and salts and all create basically a battery out of your soil. Certain ratios of these minerals operate fluently together when mixed in the right ratios and soil microbiology thrives. Generally you want a soil with very low K, low P and N, High Ca, and lots of trace minerals. Now it gets more complex than this, and thats where the labs come into place. The reason you want to start with a stripped down soil and build it is because if you get too much of one thing or another, then high brix results are not achievable. Think of growing like the engine of the car, when the car is finely tuned, fuel/air ratios and compression are right, then the plant/car runs like a dream. When one of the components of the engine is off or fails (nutrient ratios off) then the engine will not work properly.. When the engine is finely tuned, by adding in the right combinations of foliar sprays with the right ingredients, its like adding a supercharger to that finely tuned engine.. It enhances the capabilities of that engine (the plant).
So for proper high brix growing, that is the process you want to start with. Now can I suggest what to add and what not to add, not really, but the lab guys can. This is why I recommended Docbud's kit because he found that Promix HP has pretty much the right ratios of all the nutrients and minerals which allows the addition of amendments that were calculated by the lab and docbud to get the soil to be that finely tuned engine
This is why I can not say yes, use the soil you have or no, don't, because it would be a complete guess on my part and yours without a "roadmap" or soiltest done. With that being said, there are things you can do that we have found out to help increase brix of a plant, but just alone will not take the plant into the high brix realm, without the proper soil.
---------------------------------
We have found that adding a 6-5-3 ratio of calcium carbonate, soft rock phosphate, and gypsum can help increase soil energy and help increase brix.
Compost teas are known for helping to improve soil health, as well as help raise brix levels as long as they are in the right ratios as well.. I have been using a great product by T and J enterprises and a few other growers here also have had great success with it. Not sure if they ship to your neck of the woods but check it out and you will see what it includes..
Foliar sprays (these should be lab designed for the purpose of high brix) generally they consist of lots of calcium, high phosporus, and micronutrients, plus a chelation aid like humic/fulvic acid, yucca extract or other products that act as sticker/spreaders with saponins.
These are the things so far that can help raise brix value of a grow slightly, but if the soil is not right, it really won't do a whole lot to the brix level. It may raise it slightly, but not into the ranges that you want to seek when growing for high brix.
-------------------------------
When I build my soil, I did not get a test done, but I did use ProMix, and based my additives off the ratio's they recommend. Knowing that Promix HP qualified as a good base soil was the only way though that I knew where my starting point was, and what to add to achieve the blend I was seeking. Is it perfect, no, but is it getting very high brix results, you bet
Many of the issues that you see with indoor grows are because we are restricting the roots to small containers instead of letting them do what they do naturally. I would suggest using big pots.. depending on how big you want your plants I would go with 7 gallons or higher, I use 5's only because my growing space can't fit larger pots, but if I had a bigger area, definitely would go bigger.
Another reason that you see a lot of plants with issues indoors is that most growers (including myself) don't seek chemical analysis of their soil, and then add things without understanding the complexities of soil chemistry. I am definitely not a pro on this but you see what I am getting at.. When the soil is right and feedings are lab designed, as you see with Docbuds kit, time and time again beautiful plants, hardly any deficiencies and some of the most beautiful nugs I have seen period... When you see deficiencies many times its too small of pots/not enough soil, overloading the soil with salts/nutrients and throwing off the natural balance, underwatering/overwatering.
-----------------------------------
Worm castings are great and I do highly suggest them for your soil as an amendment. I usually use between 10-20% worm castings to my total soil mix.
Overall I would say don't feel intimidated by indoor growing and stick with what you know and what has worked for you outdoors. Try a run like that and see how it turns out. That then gives you a goal or standard as far as what that gets you. Then maybe try doing the same soil mixtures you have been using outdoors, but add the 6-5-3 to the soil with some azomite, and start using compost teas every other feeding or every 3rd feeding... I can almost bet that this will raise the bar again for you.. Growing indoors is nice too because its always sunny days, no bugs, and you control the environment completely (humidity, temps, co2, air cycling). So once you get that dialed in, with your experience, I don't think you will have any issues
........If you wanted to skip all the guesswork, then go with Docbuds kit...
........If you wanted to go somewhere in-between, get your base soil tested (without any additives with a weak acid soil test). Have the lab recommend to you what to add (if your soil passes) and then follow their instruction.
Outside of those options, really I would say at that point you are on your own and high brix isn't a guarantee, because it really would be how you apply the high brix concepts to what you have to work with assuming your soil is ok. (sort of what I did)
I hope this answers your questions sort of about high brix... I will send you the links via PM...
Dang, you have like 10 times the experience as me!! LOL I know where to come for answers when I get some land and need help growing monsters
I am going to PM you a bunch of links that I found helpful in my researching of high brix that I think you will find helpful too.
So if you want to go high brix with it... find out if you can get weak acid soil tests done with your soil. For high brix you want a pretty stripped soil to start with and you want to build it according to lab recommendations. The reason for this is all the minerals and organic materials and salts and all create basically a battery out of your soil. Certain ratios of these minerals operate fluently together when mixed in the right ratios and soil microbiology thrives. Generally you want a soil with very low K, low P and N, High Ca, and lots of trace minerals. Now it gets more complex than this, and thats where the labs come into place. The reason you want to start with a stripped down soil and build it is because if you get too much of one thing or another, then high brix results are not achievable. Think of growing like the engine of the car, when the car is finely tuned, fuel/air ratios and compression are right, then the plant/car runs like a dream. When one of the components of the engine is off or fails (nutrient ratios off) then the engine will not work properly.. When the engine is finely tuned, by adding in the right combinations of foliar sprays with the right ingredients, its like adding a supercharger to that finely tuned engine.. It enhances the capabilities of that engine (the plant).
So for proper high brix growing, that is the process you want to start with. Now can I suggest what to add and what not to add, not really, but the lab guys can. This is why I recommended Docbud's kit because he found that Promix HP has pretty much the right ratios of all the nutrients and minerals which allows the addition of amendments that were calculated by the lab and docbud to get the soil to be that finely tuned engine
This is why I can not say yes, use the soil you have or no, don't, because it would be a complete guess on my part and yours without a "roadmap" or soiltest done. With that being said, there are things you can do that we have found out to help increase brix of a plant, but just alone will not take the plant into the high brix realm, without the proper soil.
---------------------------------
We have found that adding a 6-5-3 ratio of calcium carbonate, soft rock phosphate, and gypsum can help increase soil energy and help increase brix.
Compost teas are known for helping to improve soil health, as well as help raise brix levels as long as they are in the right ratios as well.. I have been using a great product by T and J enterprises and a few other growers here also have had great success with it. Not sure if they ship to your neck of the woods but check it out and you will see what it includes..
Foliar sprays (these should be lab designed for the purpose of high brix) generally they consist of lots of calcium, high phosporus, and micronutrients, plus a chelation aid like humic/fulvic acid, yucca extract or other products that act as sticker/spreaders with saponins.
These are the things so far that can help raise brix value of a grow slightly, but if the soil is not right, it really won't do a whole lot to the brix level. It may raise it slightly, but not into the ranges that you want to seek when growing for high brix.
-------------------------------
When I build my soil, I did not get a test done, but I did use ProMix, and based my additives off the ratio's they recommend. Knowing that Promix HP qualified as a good base soil was the only way though that I knew where my starting point was, and what to add to achieve the blend I was seeking. Is it perfect, no, but is it getting very high brix results, you bet
Many of the issues that you see with indoor grows are because we are restricting the roots to small containers instead of letting them do what they do naturally. I would suggest using big pots.. depending on how big you want your plants I would go with 7 gallons or higher, I use 5's only because my growing space can't fit larger pots, but if I had a bigger area, definitely would go bigger.
Another reason that you see a lot of plants with issues indoors is that most growers (including myself) don't seek chemical analysis of their soil, and then add things without understanding the complexities of soil chemistry. I am definitely not a pro on this but you see what I am getting at.. When the soil is right and feedings are lab designed, as you see with Docbuds kit, time and time again beautiful plants, hardly any deficiencies and some of the most beautiful nugs I have seen period... When you see deficiencies many times its too small of pots/not enough soil, overloading the soil with salts/nutrients and throwing off the natural balance, underwatering/overwatering.
-----------------------------------
Worm castings are great and I do highly suggest them for your soil as an amendment. I usually use between 10-20% worm castings to my total soil mix.
Overall I would say don't feel intimidated by indoor growing and stick with what you know and what has worked for you outdoors. Try a run like that and see how it turns out. That then gives you a goal or standard as far as what that gets you. Then maybe try doing the same soil mixtures you have been using outdoors, but add the 6-5-3 to the soil with some azomite, and start using compost teas every other feeding or every 3rd feeding... I can almost bet that this will raise the bar again for you.. Growing indoors is nice too because its always sunny days, no bugs, and you control the environment completely (humidity, temps, co2, air cycling). So once you get that dialed in, with your experience, I don't think you will have any issues
........If you wanted to skip all the guesswork, then go with Docbuds kit...
........If you wanted to go somewhere in-between, get your base soil tested (without any additives with a weak acid soil test). Have the lab recommend to you what to add (if your soil passes) and then follow their instruction.
Outside of those options, really I would say at that point you are on your own and high brix isn't a guarantee, because it really would be how you apply the high brix concepts to what you have to work with assuming your soil is ok. (sort of what I did)
I hope this answers your questions sort of about high brix... I will send you the links via PM...
LOL