Hmm, so you think that the foaming agents are capable of lifting the dust/dander off of the trichs?
Ps, if you want me to move this conversation away from your thread, and to the bud washing thread I will no problem brother!
Just trying to pick your brain a little that's all!
& Blessings
I don't mind talking about it here, but I will say that I'm no expert on it and everyone has the access to the same information I had prior to deciding to wash via the washing thread. I've never grown and harvested any weed that wasn't washed and it'll be around ten weeks before I can do a side by side comparison. Things I know are that the washing/foaming action easily removed all the stuff I could visibly see on the buds like stray hairs, bits of potting soil, gnats that had landed on sticky trichomes and found themselves stuck until they died... I know it removed all those things. If I'd known that this discussion was going to take place I could've documented it with pictures easy enough.
Looks like I can learn a little here also PeeJay. Subscribed!
Welcome SABO. Your plants are looking fantastic!
I was recently watching a documentary on MMJ and one of the pro-growers came into a dispensary with a very light case of mold on the buds and the dispensary could not buy them. I don't know how old the show was, but how long has this method of washing been a way to remove mold from the buds? Or is it even a viable way to remove it? I live in the deep dry 30, so not too concerned about it, but if someone else every asks I'd like to know.
I don't know how effective the washing would be at removing minor mold already on plants, GF. If you trimmed out the mold and then washed it might disinfect the buds to the point that it wouldn't spread while drying and curing. It will certainly remove a % of mold spores on buds. I hope I never have to find out! Molds don't only grow in damp environments but botrytis likes damp. Powdery mildew is an example of fungus that will thrive in lower humidity conditions.
... and in my case, dead whiteflies, bug poop, fibers ...
I'm in a low humidity climate too, so no real mold/fungus concerns.
I was impressed with your 17.25 brix. Nicely done!
I was shocked by those brix readings Graytail. Plants really seem to hook up the soil I'm making. That hard, almost crystalline scar from topping the OG is another indicator of how resinous the sap is. I'll mess around with the foliar I'm brewing a little, but my gut tells me not to mess around much. The Darkstar is insanely potent smoke.
The funny thing is that even as I sit here typing the biota in the bins of unused soil as well as the overall composition of the dirt is changing from microbial and fungal activity. When a plant is growing in a container it alters the dirt even more. What I really want is to grow in a medium where I don't have to spend time constantly scrutinizing plants for changes and trying to decide how to improve them by making "best guess" adjustments to feeding routines. Taking brix readings is a great way to get an overall idea of how healthy the plant is. Trying to increase the brix by manipulating what is available for the plant is super complex and problematic. I'm not sure where I would even start...
Brix is sort of a way of measuring the PPM - everything that is not water - in the plant sap/juice. If you take a PPM reading on a solution the reading doesn't tell you exactly what is in the solution, it only tells you how much stuff is in the solution that isn't water. You don't get any information about how much calcium, or magnesium, or iron, or potassium or nitrogen; just how much stuff is in the solution all together.
What's interesting is there are a huge number of processes and factors that alter and change brix. Certain nutrients are more available to the plant at certain pH. Mineral cofactor levels effect enzyme activity. The amount of light influences sugar production via photosynthesis. Each chemical reaction has a temperature where it will run the fastest, and each reaction has a different temperature. Finally, each plant's unique genetics play a role. No matter how well a person eats and how hard they train genetic make-up will have a huge influence on athletic performance, for example.
I may never see brix that high again, ever!
