Icemud's Grow 4.0 - High Brix Focus with Gas Lamp Routine - V-Scrog

[ecofrog]

Hi icemud. I read your grows, nice science. My question comes it to the reason one wants high brix in their MJ. While i can understand why brix would be a useful gage, a high brix is more of a 'symptom' of excellent grow conditions that promote quality instead of quantity. Your growing mix offered high amounts of nuts so your plant was never without. Your lights offer full spectrum so photomorphogenesis can fully happen which likely leads to more resin (im guessing?). As opposed to 100% HPS only lights whereas blues and other spectra are hard to come by and a 100% hydro that just uses a part a/b and a bit of micro which is where you get more 'sterile' tasting type of products or high quantity but low quality. In the food world, they call this concept 'nutrient dense foods'.

So im wondering a few things... has there ever been a study where people have positively identified and favored high brix vs low? Or is all of this just opinion? Could high brix come from 100% hydro? I notice that all the high brix runs use soil/soilless mix which has significantly less O2 than hydro. Is high brix just a symptom of high ash content? All high ash counts are not equal, perhaps someone has tried to tease out which elemental ratios might be sought after for high brix? (i have a few ideas but only guesses)

Also one more point. No is suggesting that sugar added to the soil or hydro is actually being uptaken in the plant to increase brix are they? Because that isnt the way plants work which we can get into if needed. One way sugar added to soil helps increase brix is that sugar increases soil microbes which increases free ions in solution which leads to more uptake which leads to more ash which leads to more brix.

 

[Icemud]

Hi icemud. I read your grows, nice science. My question comes it to the reason one wants high brix in their MJ. While i can understand why brix would be a useful gage, a high brix is more of a 'symptom' of excellent grow conditions that promote quality instead of quantity. Your growing mix offered high amounts of nuts so your plant was never without. Your lights offer full spectrum so photomorphogenesis can fully happen which likely leads to more resin (im guessing?). As opposed to 100% HPS only lights whereas blues and other spectra are hard to come by and a 100% hydro that just uses a part a/b and a bit of micro which is where you get more 'sterile' tasting type of products or high quantity but low quality. In the food world, they call this concept 'nutrient dense foods'.

So im wondering a few things... has there ever been a study where people have positively identified and favored high brix vs low? Or is all of this just opinion? Could high brix come from 100% hydro? I notice that all the high brix runs use soil/soilless mix which has significantly less O2 than hydro. Is high brix just a symptom of high ash content? All high ash counts are not equal, perhaps someone has tried to tease out which elemental ratios might be sought after for high brix? (i have a few ideas but only guesses)

Also one more point. No is suggesting that sugar added to the soil or hydro is actually being uptaken in the plant to increase brix are they? Because that isnt the way plants work which we can get into if needed. One way sugar added to soil helps increase brix is that sugar increases soil microbes which increases free ions in solution which leads to more uptake which leads to more ash which leads to more brix.

Hey Ecofrog! I would first like to thank you for the compliments on this journal!

I would recommend reposting your questions here
High Brix Q&A With Pictures

This is the forum where most of the High Brix growers congregate and ask questions, so you will get more input from others who have even more knowledge of High Brix growing than I do.

As far as your questions, I will try to answer them the best I can...

has there ever been a study where people have positively identified and favored high brix vs low?
I don't believe there has ever been an official study regarding high brix vs low brix overall taste/quality/etc.. however, many growers who have done regular grows and then tried high brix (cannabis related) have definitely noticed a more present terpine/flavor profile (more complex) much smoother smoke on the inhale, and also high brix tends to extend the trichome maturation and also gives a more sativa type effect to the overall buds. Also pests generally will not infect a plant above 12 brix so this is also a plus!

When talking about fruits/veggies, in taste tests, high brix food always taste better, last longer without rotting and have more nutrient density (heathier) than the low brix comparisons.

Could high brix come from 100% hydro?
High brix is based on a healthy living soil, so it is not possible in any other medium that I am aware of. Also not just any soil, but specifically designed soil to be high in Calcium, low in NPK, with lots of rock powders. The basic concept is with the addition of foliar sprays, when the soil is in perfect ratios, using the correct sprays will allow the plants to release more "sugars" to the soil microbes which speed up the nutrient uptake and availability. Its like putting a supercharger on a finely tuned race engine.


I notice that all the high brix runs use soil/soilless mix which has significantly less O2 than hydro. Is high brix just a symptom of high ash content?
Oxygen is important to soil biology, but high brix is more about the ratios of nutrients... carbon to nitrogen ratios exceeding 20:1, Calcium to magnesium ratios of 7:1 or higher, equal K to MG ratios, and so on. Also having micronized rock dusts and powders is important. And like mentioned above, when the soil is right, adding in the foliar sprays is what "supercharges" your brix and grow.


All high ash counts are not equal, perhaps someone has tried to tease out which elemental ratios might be sought after for high brix? (i have a few ideas but only guesses)
The only true way to get your soil to the High brix realm is to have a weak acid soil test done by an agricultural lab that specifically does high brix growing and soil analysis. I took the DIY route which did show it worked, but was a lot of guesswork on my part and estimating the values based on the analysis of ProMix HP which is the only soil that we know as of now (commercially available) that has NPK close enough to the idea ratios to amend and gear to be high brix soil.


No is suggesting that sugar added to the soil or hydro is actually being uptaken in the plant to increase brix are they? Because that isnt the way plants work which we can get into if needed. One way sugar added to soil helps increase brix is that sugar increases soil microbes which increases free ions in solution which leads to more uptake which leads to more ash which leads to more brix.

This is correct...you do NOT want to add sugars, molasses or other sugar type substances to the soil for high brix. The plant releases sugars at the roots to feed the microbes. Foliar sprays used when the soil is in the right ratios will increase the amount of sugars released by the plant naturally which feed the microbes energy basically. We want the microbes eating the rocks, not sugars, so this is why we don't want to feed sugars to the soil. I didn't know this at first and still got good results, but now that I am not feeding any carbs/sugars to the soil, the plants are even healthier.