Skybound
Well-Known Member
Apologies in advance if the title gassed anyone to believe that somebody finally did it! I am vigorously in pursuit of high brix hydroponics, but I am still at least months away from possible success. Instead, this is my attempt to attract like minds to a common topic to increase discussion and share ideas. I am already fully invested, I make my own concentrates, mix my own chelated micro nutrient blend to whatever trace targets I desire, and aside from the increasing laundry list of organic inputs, I have in play quite possibly the best combination of materials needed to have a good chance to be successful in high brix hydroponics.
Before I get too far ahead of myself, if anyone is interested in learning how to make their own nutrient blend using Hydro Buddy (an app for Windows/Linux), and what my very successful blends are, please see the link in my signature for mixing nutes and using Hydro Buddy. I am free for questions beyond that, but please read at least all of page one. Page 2 is some chit chat, but there is also useful tidbits on page 3. I mix my own nutrient blends beginning to end and am already growing extremely healthy plants with only extremely minor deficiencies. I was already in the process of refining my nutrient ratios when I stumbled onto high brix growing journals and Doc Bud's kit. Much added reading informed me that I was already in pursuit of perfectly balanced feed which is a prerequisite for brix growing. It was then that I stumbled onto this chart posted to THCfarm.
I just received my refractometer and learned my brix was around 7%, which I guess is not good compared to DBHBB plants. What they consider high is the high teens, but 12 is considered the benchmark. My aim is around 14%. It will be a lot more than just dialing in the nutes, but it will likely also require a bit of sacrifice too. Not in the sense of lost bud weight, but in the sense of knowing you're not going to be fattening up as much. It's a fine line difference, but the way I understand it is that brix is the measure of sucrose content of the ploem so the less water there is present will skew the sucrose content (brix%) upwards. I believe this is why my plants are so very healthy, but my brix % is still so low. To get it to increase will involve the discovery and adoption of better practices, most of which I am already a proponent of;
Because I now know my leaf sap PH
I can make educated guesses about 2-3 different elements to change. I have made lots of great advances and will continue this totally alone if need be, but I do hope to attract like minds, hydro growers and hopefully some organics brix growers that are willing to share their wisdom and experience. I bet if they help us succeed with this, we can learn more about it which in turn might help them futher improve their brix numbers and maybe even harvest more weight in the process? I've received some contention in other threads, but that can be expected when pioneering anything new. Us test dummies are how humans advance.
Before I get too far ahead of myself, if anyone is interested in learning how to make their own nutrient blend using Hydro Buddy (an app for Windows/Linux), and what my very successful blends are, please see the link in my signature for mixing nutes and using Hydro Buddy. I am free for questions beyond that, but please read at least all of page one. Page 2 is some chit chat, but there is also useful tidbits on page 3. I mix my own nutrient blends beginning to end and am already growing extremely healthy plants with only extremely minor deficiencies. I was already in the process of refining my nutrient ratios when I stumbled onto high brix growing journals and Doc Bud's kit. Much added reading informed me that I was already in pursuit of perfectly balanced feed which is a prerequisite for brix growing. It was then that I stumbled onto this chart posted to THCfarm.
I just received my refractometer and learned my brix was around 7%, which I guess is not good compared to DBHBB plants. What they consider high is the high teens, but 12 is considered the benchmark. My aim is around 14%. It will be a lot more than just dialing in the nutes, but it will likely also require a bit of sacrifice too. Not in the sense of lost bud weight, but in the sense of knowing you're not going to be fattening up as much. It's a fine line difference, but the way I understand it is that brix is the measure of sucrose content of the ploem so the less water there is present will skew the sucrose content (brix%) upwards. I believe this is why my plants are so very healthy, but my brix % is still so low. To get it to increase will involve the discovery and adoption of better practices, most of which I am already a proponent of;
- highly refined nutrient regimen that promotes adequate calcium and potassium uptake
- monitored nitrate levels
- monitored magnesium levels. Mag controls the creation of chlorophyl, and carbs and will likely be very influencial in brix in hydro.
- many organic inputs
- religious use of beneficial bacteria (for me via ACTs)
- decreased feeding frequency or increased O2 levels in DWC to promote root growth
- lowered EC
Because I now know my leaf sap PH
I can make educated guesses about 2-3 different elements to change. I have made lots of great advances and will continue this totally alone if need be, but I do hope to attract like minds, hydro growers and hopefully some organics brix growers that are willing to share their wisdom and experience. I bet if they help us succeed with this, we can learn more about it which in turn might help them futher improve their brix numbers and maybe even harvest more weight in the process? I've received some contention in other threads, but that can be expected when pioneering anything new. Us test dummies are how humans advance.
