Okay... I'm back. So I just started to talk about high brix... DocBud, one of the many great growers here at 420 Magazine, is the one who got me interested in high brix gardening. He’s been using the techniques on his current grow, and so far his plants look amazing!
I was gearing up to make the switch to organics…trying to learn everything I could about the soil food web, compost teas, etc. when DocBud started talking about high brix techniques in his last journal. I kept insisting I was going to start with organics, and look into high brix later, once I got organics down. But then, as I was reading everything I could find on the subject I came to understand that high brix gardening is just organics, taken to the next level.
Brix is just a unit of measure. One degree Brix is 1 gram of sucrose in 100 grams of solution. Traditionally brix was used in wine, sugar, fruit juice, etc. industries. At some point, it started getting used in the food industry for measuring the approximate amount of sugars in fruits and vegetables as well. Brix is measured with a refractometer. Once you know what brix your veggies are, there's charts you use to see how well you did. Here's one.
The paragraph in the chart pretty much says why we would want to grow high brix food.
I'm sure you noticed cannabis isn’t listed, but I think DocBud already came up with a number he's shooting for, I just can't remember it at the moment.
The way you get a higher brix (in soil anyway) is by almost ignoring the plant! High brix gardening is all about building a thriving microherd of benneficial bacteria and organisms that breakdown the minerals in the soil and in turn, feed the plant. Compost teas are important here to keep the soil teeming with life! I’ll also be using the teas as a foliar spray. Basically, we feed the organisms in the soil,and they feed the plant.
Standard organics uses the same principals, but where organics can fall short is if you don’t have enough minerals in the proper ratios in the soil. One of the main principals of high brix gardening is that you must remineralize the soil. Most farmland is badly depleted of trace minerals that the micro organisms break down and make available to the plant. Ever noticed how most of the vegetable in the grocery store taste like crap? I'm betting that's one of the big reasons.
Outdoors in your garden, It can get more complicated, with soil tests being necessary to know what minerals to add, in way amounts. But if you’re starting out with a quality potting soil it can be easily mineralized by adding the proper ratios of rock powders when preparing the soil.
Again, This all got started with DocBud. He’s the one that started doing the research, and got me interested...and he’s the one that’s been using the techniques and working out the kinks. So if you’re reading this bro, you deserve another
for all your hard work.
There are kits you can buy that contain all the proper minerals in the proper ratios, or you can piece it together yourself, which is what I'm doing. There’s just a few simple things you need:
Limestone - NOT dolomite. You'll need Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3), at least 90% - just a note here…if you’re on the East coast there are no high calcium limestone deposits in this part of the country, so start shopping online.
Soft Rock Phosphate - Be careful...NOT any of the “super phosphate” additives…they will kill everything in your soil.
Gypsum - Just plain old garden gypsum.
Azomite - there really isn’t anything quite like Azomite. Its a natural, mined product from Utah, that contains over 70 minerals and trace elements.
The limestone, soft rock phosphate and gypsum are combined in the following ratios:
6 Parts Limestone
5 Parts SRP
3 Parts Gypsum
I use 1 cubic foot bags of soil, so to get the proper amount as recommended by DocBud, I added 2/3 cup of the 6/5/3 powders, and 1/3 cup Azomite to each bag of soil.
I also needed some organic matter for the micro organisms, so I also added 1 cup of Coast of Maine’s Eggemoggin Blend, which is a pasteurized hen manure (4-2-2 fertilizer) to each bag as well. Coast of Maine recommends 2 cups per bag, but I’d rather go light…it’s always easier to add later.
When I do need to fertilize, I’ll use Neptune’s Harvest Hydrolyzed Fish Fertilizer along with their Seaweed Fertilizer. They sell them already combined, but I use the seaweed fertilizer alone for my teas, so I buy them separate.
If you really want to learn about high brix gardening, I would encourage you to google it and start reading! I tried to give a quick overview, but in doing so you always take the risk of over simplifying...I was reading for days before I decided to give it a go, so please do your own research if you're thinking about giving it a try.
I almost forgot! All this talk about brix levels and I don't even know if high brix will equal amazingly dank buds or not! I guess finding out is all part of the fun!
Well, its about 5:30 AM here, and I do need to get some sleep, so I'll pick this up tomorrow!
I'll try to keep the poo discussions to a minimum! 