All Organic High Brix

[BudTester420]

Thanks for the tip! I just spent about 45 minutes on their website. Good stuff, exactly what we're doing here. It looks like a nice product!

So can I buy some of that stuff and mix the right amount in with some fox farm and be good for a vegging mom? Basically?

 

[Doc Bud]

So can I buy some of that stuff and mix the right amount in with some fox farm and be good for a vegging mom? Basically?

No.....not at all. FFOF is already heavily amended. I do not know the ratio's in FF.....soon I will, but I don't know them. Do YOU know the ratio of Cal to mag? How about K to P, K to Ca? What % humus in FFOF?

That's why you need a soil test! You can tweak the soil that way and get it just right.

Now, will that fertilizer work better than say, the FF trio? I'll bet it does! I'll bet it works very well indeed! I kind of used that same approach with the "kit" on the last grow.

But I found out pretty fast that the amended soil did better than the kit-only soil.

So, if I'm going to try for the very best, I'm going to test the soil and add exactly what's missing in the right amounts.

 

[BudTester420]

No.....not at all. FFOF is already heavily amended. I do not know the ratio's in FF.....soon I will, but I don't know them. Do YOU know the ratio of Cal to mag? How about K to P, K to Ca? What % humus in FFOF?

That's why you need a soil test! You can tweak the soil that way and get it just right.

Now, will that fertilizer work better than say, the FF trio? I'll bet it does! I'll bet it works very well indeed! I kind of used that same approach with the "kit" on the last grow.

But I found out pretty fast that the amended soil did better than the kit-only soil.

So, if I'm going to try for the very best, I'm going to test the soil and add exactly what's missing in the right amounts.

I emailed FF awhile ago and asked about there npk ratios and for other info on there soil and all they would say is that's is balanced and stable and basically read me they discription from the bag. I should send in a test this week, I can prob get results back faster then most.

 

[Doc Bud]

I emailed FF awhile ago and asked about there npk ratios and for other info on there soil and all they would say is that's is balanced and stable and basically read me they discription from the bag. I should send in a test this week, I can prob get results back faster then most.

If you test FFOF, please post a picture of the test results and recommendations. You'll save me another 60 bucks. I'm expecting the vermisoil results any day now.

Again, this product will probably run rings around other pre-packaged products due to the minerals. I'm sure it's really good!

But I'd be careful adding it to an already heavily amended soil. You might try Black Gold, which is what I used for my kit grow. It has very little added to it, compared to FFOF.

Again, I found that pre-fortified and cooked soil works better than "fortify as you go" kit soil. But the kit does work! It might be a very good option for a grower with limited time who doesn't want to mix up soil. I can totally understand that! Also, it might be a godsend for outdoor growers and might be especially good for those who recycle their soil.

But we're seeking the pinnacle here....the very best. The pro's all use soil tests. They do this for a reason! Their livelihood depends on it.

 

[BudTester420]

If you test FFOF, please post a picture of the test results and recommendations. You'll save me another 60 bucks. I'm expecting the vermisoil results any day now.

Again, this product will probably run rings around other pre-packaged products due to the minerals. I'm sure it's really good!

But I'd be careful adding it to an already heavily amended soil. You might try Black Gold, which is what I used for my kit grow. It has very little added to it, compared to FFOF.

Again, I found that pre-fortified and cooked soil works better than "fortify as you go" kit soil. But the kit does work! It might be a very good option for a grower with limited time who doesn't want to mix up soil. I can totally understand that! Also, it might be a godsend for outdoor growers and might be especially good for those who recycle their soil.

But we're seeking the pinnacle here....the very best. The pro's all use soil tests. They do this for a reason! Their livelihood depends on it.

Was not expecting $50 for a test but if it can get narrowed down so that it can be amended first to last it would be nice to be able to re use the soil.

 

[Smooth1]

Glad you like the idea of this stuff I thought it looked good.
I was thinking about mixing this stuff in with a light mix that I have been using sending it off for a sample
While I have a grow running in it , as I normally have a long wait for the samples.
If any info I've put into this journal help half the people you have I will be happy.
Smooth

 

[Firetulip]

Hi there Doc i got a question you have alot of views and great great plants, i was wondering what kind of Nute should i use for a G13 strain indoor with LEDs? Thanks my grow is in the journals <3

 

[Doc Bud]

Hi there Doc i got a question you have alot of views and great great plants, i was wondering what kind of Nute should i use for a G13 strain indoor with LEDs? Thanks my grow is in the journals <3

What medium are you using? I don't give hydro advice......

For a new grower I try to steer people to OC+......Osmocote Plus. (Make sure you get the 'PLUS')

 

[MsMe]

2.)too small of containers....ERG's to zero, minerals decreased.

Years ago on a different site I remember a grower who used a double pot method of growing. Instead of transplanting to a bigger pot, he would add a pot underneath the one the plant was in and somehow (maybe cut of the bottom of the top pot???) the roots would grow into the bottom pot. I don't remember all the details, but I'm wondering if this could be a possible solution also??

It would allow for an entirely new infusion of minerals, etc.
I'm also thinking about the structure of something like an airpot which has an open type bottom and might work in a set up like this???

 

[Doc Bud]

Years ago on a different site I remember a grower who used a double pot method of growing. Instead of transplanting to a bigger pot, he would add a pot underneath the one the plant was in and somehow (maybe cut of the bottom of the top pot???) the roots would grow into the bottom pot. I don't remember all the details, but I'm wondering if this could be a possible solution also??

It would allow for an entirely new infusion of minerals, etc.
I'm also thinking about the structure of something like an airpot which has an open type bottom and might work in a set up like this???

Yup! The BOG technique. BOG is "Bushy Old Grower."

I don't use the technique for a couple reasons:

Uses twice as many pots
using a big pot in the first place negates the need for a second transplant!

I'm very open to biodegradeable "fertlilizer" pots for seedlings.

 

[Smooth1]

I use air pot and have nothing but good things to about them the produce amazing fine root hair I have picture from my last grow in a journal think it in abandoned even tho it's completed now.

I will be using them in next grow and will be sure to let everyone know how they fair in a high brix method as soon as they go into flower

 

[MsMe]

Hey Doc
Thought I'd update you on my transition to High Brix...

I've got the heat situation under control and transplanted into larger pots that had properly mixed high brix soil last weekend. The soil had only cooked 1 week but I felt I had to get them transplanted asap. I also added OC+ at a fairly low 2TBS per 2 1/2 GAL of soil ratio and have top dressed with EWC once this week. Still doing the foliar feed & watering with tea once a week. Everything is going well and they've taken off since the transplanting. Getting taller and having lots of secondary growth at the nodes. They look AWESOME!!!! I plan to top 2 of them this weekend and try to clone the tops to keep as moms.

My biggest concern at this point is the fact that I don't have very large pots. The ones I'm using are square 7.5"x7.5"x9". If I understand correctly, this means I need to be more vigilant in making sure I continue to add microbe food such as EWC, manure, kelp, etc regularly throughout the grow is that right??? Is there anything else I need to worry about with the smaller pots???

I may get some larger pots because I want to try the double pot with airpots idea had on my next grow, but they won't be bigger than 5 GAL so small pots will still be an issue.

Any comments/suggestions will be much appreciated.



I've also gone semi high brix in my veggie garden by top dressing and using teas in the soil and as foliar spray and you would not believe the difference!!!! I have no idea how I'm going to control my tomatoes because they've turned into gigantic bushes with side branching everywhere. I've got some green cherry tomatoes and strawberries turning red so hopefully I'll be able to experience some of the high brix difference there soon.
EXCITED

 

[Doc Bud]

Hey Doc
Thought I'd update you on my transition to High Brix...

I've got the heat situation under control and transplanted into larger pots that had properly mixed high brix soil last weekend. The soil had only cooked 1 week but I felt I had to get them transplanted asap. I also added OC+ at a fairly low 2TBS per 2 1/2 GAL of soil ratio and have top dressed with EWC once this week. Still doing the foliar feed & watering with tea once a week. Everything is going well and they've taken off since the transplanting. Getting taller and having lots of secondary growth at the nodes. They look AWESOME!!!! I plan to top 2 of them this weekend and try to clone the tops to keep as moms.

My biggest concern at this point is the fact that I don't have very large pots. The ones I'm using are square 7.5"x7.5"x9". If I understand correctly, this means I need to be more vigilant in making sure I continue to add microbe food such as EWC, manure, kelp, etc regularly throughout the grow is that right??? Is there anything else I need to worry about with the smaller pots???

I may get some larger pots because I want to try the double pot with airpots idea had on my next grow, but they won't be bigger than 5 GAL so small pots will still be an issue.

Any comments/suggestions will be much appreciated.



I've also gone semi high brix in my veggie garden by top dressing and using teas in the soil and as foliar spray and you would not believe the difference!!!! I have no idea how I'm going to control my tomatoes because they've turned into gigantic bushes with side branching everywhere. I've got some green cherry tomatoes and strawberries turning red so hopefully I'll be able to experience some of the high brix difference there soon.
EXCITED

Nice! My vegetable garden is looking epic as well. I tasted some lettuce and arugula yesterday.....heavenly.

So, here's my current thinking on the use of small pots:

1.)flower ASAP. Nothing but trouble is headed your way if you don't.
2.)do not use very much kelp, due to the potassium. Steer manure is usually high in salts.

The OC+ will help with the soil energy. The microbes are going to want some organic matter to munch on.....I'd use hydrolyzed fish and COMPOSTED chicken manure sparingly. Use a bit of molasses between feedings. Top dress with rock powders every 2 weeks or so.

The plants just love what we're doing with this high brix stuff....but the soil is where the action is. You've got to stay on top of it in the smaller pots!

 

[HighWaterMark]

First, a bit on brewing tea.

I'm using a product called, "Nature's Own." It's a commercial quality microbial tea that is balanced in both bacteria and fungi. Here's what I do:

1.)Put 1/4 cup of tea starter in 5 gallon bucket . . .

DocBud,

Are your "Nature's Own" tea constituents coming from T&J Enterprises out of Spokane, WA?

 

[Doc Bud]

DocBud,

Are your "Nature's Own" tea constituents coming from T&J Enterprises out of Spokane, WA?

Yup.

 

[Bchris22]

Hey Doc,

So I am finally all caught up on your last 4 journals. After asking XLR8 a few questions about Super Soil he kindly pointed me in your direction and I am glad he did. I think it is awesome how you continue to research and push forward and whats even more impressive is how willing you are to teach others and give back to the community. As many others have said it is a privelage to be able to follow along with you as you push the envelope.

Well, it's all organic except for one of the foliar sprays.....which doesn't have the OMRI label. The reason is simply because it hasn't been submitted for OMRI certification.....but there's nothing evil in it. Everything else is all organic, OMRI certified.

Strains:

Blue Dream
Jack Herer x New Zealand Purple Kush
Lemon Paki

Soil:

Lower half of containers will be half Vermisoil mixed with an equal part of my supersoil mix. (blood, bone, guano, EWC etc.) This mix will also have the following rock powders added: 6 parts limestone/5 parts Soft Rock Phosphate/3 parts gypsum.

Upper half will be straight Vermisoil.

Nutes:

1.)every feeding will include aerated microbial tea
2.)Micronutrients (Planter's II trace minerals)
3.)Finely ground rock powders (Soft Rock Phos, Limestone, gypsum)
4.)Organic fertlizer

Total NPK comes to 2.5-4-.2 By far, the most abundant thing in the feed mix is calcium.

pH: ? Who cares? I'm not going to check it.

The Blue Dream and Purple Jack will germinate under 12/12 lighting and will be topped. Topping postpones bloom a bit, thus increasing veg time, even though I'm still on a 12 hour photoperiod. I do this all the time.

The Lemon Paki's were sickly clones, (aren't they all?) but I've got them back healthy. I topped them last night and will attempt to clone the tops. I'll have a mother plant of Lemon Paki, so hopefully my clones will by a bit better than some others.

We'll see how this works! Pics soon.....but there's not much to see right now....just a bunch of dirt and some small plants.

I know in your new journal you have discontinued the use of Vermisoil/supersoil and are using promix, the natures own kit, and foliar sprays, but I kinda liked the results of the half organic half brix method. My question is about the feeding schedule. I know you have gone alot lighter on the teas recently, but how often did u feed with the micronutrients, rock powders and organic food?? Did you just top dress with the rock powders and organic food a few times throughout the grow??

 

[Doc Bud]

Hey Doc,

So I am finally all caught up on your last 4 journals. After asking XLR8 a few questions about Super Soil he kindly pointed me in your direction and I am glad he did. I think it is awesome how you continue to research and push forward and whats even more impressive is how willing you are to teach others and give back to the community. As many others have said it is a privelage to be able to follow along with you as you push the envelope.



I know in your new journal you have discontinued the use of Vermisoil/supersoil and are using promix, the natures own kit, and foliar sprays, but I kinda liked the results of the half organic half brix method. My question is about the feeding schedule. I know you have gone alot lighter on the teas recently, but how often did u feed with the micronutrients, rock powders and organic food?? Did you just top dress with the rock powders and organic food a few times throughout the grow??

Here's the progression from the start:

1.)added rock powders for the first time to a grow that was 3 weeks from harvest. Amazing results. I'm sold.
2.)did an entire grow using a high brix kit. Excellent results. (the lemon paki journal)
3.)learned that vermisoil, while a great organic soil, is not suitable for high brix. Too much potassium, too much sodium.
4.)discovered that Promix HP, which has zero added fertilizer is barely acceptable for a true high brix soil.

The next step in the progression is in the near future: a true, professionally designed and mixed High Brix soil and feeding program.


OK....so you want to grow higher brix, and maybe aren't ready to go for highest brix. No problem mon!

Any soil grow that relies on biology instead of chemicals will benefit from rock powders, root innoculates and microbial teas. You will do very well adding the rock powders, using proper fertilizer and brewing tea than not. Period.

How often to feed? Well, even though the "kit" said there was no need to pre-mix into the soil, I found that indoors in containers, pre-mixing is superior. Outdoors in the ground, or in raised beds, the kit performed better, but according to the folks at International Ag Labs, fortifying the soil is the only way to go.

So, mix in your rock powders etc. put the soil in a tub or can, water with tea and let it cook for a month.

If you're using Nature's Own tea, go easy on it. It's so much stronger than other teas I've used, and I'm getting much better results using it sparingly. They call for a 9:1 dilution. I think an 18:1 is better for our wimpy indoor lighting and containers. I'm brewing 2 gallons, and storing it in the fridge for no more than a week. If I'm not going to use it in the indoor garden, I'll use it outdoors.

I'm not using the fertilizer that came with the kit this time, as I think it adds too much rockpowders and minerals, fine for outdoors, but too much for indoors. Top dress the rock powders on the 12/12 flip, feed sparingly and just keep an eye out. When they lose their shine, it could be due to over watering, running out of energy, or too much build-up of sodium/potassium, etc. putting the ratio of soil elements out of balance and lowering the brix.

I'm using rock n Chicken and a couple feedings of cold processed squid this time.

Next time, it will be with the professional stuff.

Is it worth all the trouble?

Hell yeah! My organic product was excellent. My High Brix product is not only better, its different and unique....just what I need in the competitive climate of legalization, which I believe will happen sooner, rather than later.

The effect of the HIgh Brix weed is much smoother, even though it's still very potent. It doesn't make your head buzz......like a drug or something is altering your consciousness. High Brix weed makes you feel really good and you're "put right" in a way that just seems like it was meant to be that way, like you're supposed to always feel that way. I grow mostly Sativa's and upbeat Kush's.....so my personal taste may not match yours.....but High Brix weed is like sunshine in your head. You smile, laugh, feel happiness and thankfull, grateful appreciation for being alive.

People who experience it for the first time are fun to watch:

"There's hardly any flavor! It smells so dank but tastes like steam!" "Wow! I"m really high! I like this stuff! I'm high but I don't feel high! I feel awesome!" "It just kept burning and burning, I thought the bowl would never end." (I can put a QP in a 32oz mason jar with room to spare at the top. High Brix weighs more per volume) And so on.

Once people try it, they can't get enough.

 

[Bchris22]

Doc,

Seriously dude thank you. I was expecting a paragraph for an answer and I got a short essay of information. I too think legalization is around the corner and I want to be able to hang around after people much smarter than me and better businessmen get involved. I mean I don't want to sound like a cash cropper but, I have a family to support and I think if done right a decent and honest living can be made... I guess to sum up my mindset I would love to provide my patients free of charge and turn a profit off of dispensaries..

As far as growing goes.. Due to my current situation I have a looong time before I will be able to do so(fall of 2013). As of now I am merely a student of the plant soaking up as much information as possible. At first I was 100% sold on Super Soil and now I am sold on High Brix, however, as a newbie it seems some of it may be a little over my head which is why I think i will ease my way into it. But Doc as long as you are willing to journal, you will have a follower in me. I dont think the 420 community can thank you enough..

 

[Doc Bud]

Doc,

Seriously dude thank you. I was expecting a paragraph for an answer and I got a short essay of information. I too think legalization is around the corner and I want to be able to hang around after people much smarter than me and better businessmen get involved. I mean I don't want to sound like a cash cropper but, I have a family to support and I think if done right a decent and honest living can be made... I guess to sum up my mindset I would love to provide my patients free of charge and turn a profit off of dispensaries..

As far as growing goes.. Due to my current situation I have a looong time before I will be able to do so(fall of 2013). As of now I am merely a student of the plant soaking up as much information as possible. At first I was 100% sold on Super Soil and now I am sold on High Brix, however, as a newbie it seems some of it may be a little over my head which is why I think i will ease my way into it. But Doc as long as you are willing to journal, you will have a follower in me. I dont think the 420 community can thank you enough..

You've got the right idea, for sure! I live right in the heart of Wine Country. Many people have careers growing plants that are psychoactive AND taste good, others have careers working with machinery that processes the plants into the psychoactive liquid, still others greet the public in tasting rooms, then there are the sales force, marketing team, graphic design for labels, etc.

This is the future of Cannabis:

U.S. WINE INDUSTRY – 2008
INDUSTRY SUMMARY
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce 2006 Annual Survey of Manufacturers, the
value of industry shipments of the U.S. wine and brandy industry (NAICS 31213) reached an
estimated $11.8 billion.1
This industry employed 24,093 individuals, with a total payroll of $1.24 billion. Between
1997 and 2002, employment grew 47 percent and industry shipments grew 52 percent. Since
then, while employment has fallen 10 percent, industry shipments grew over 25 percent.
The U.S. Department of Commerce estimates that in 2007, these industry shipments rose to
about $12.5 billion.

As for being a Newbie and worried about High Brix....don't worry. I've got a project up my sleeve.

 

[Bchris22]

As for being a Newbie and worried about High Brix....don't worry. I've got a project up my sleeve.

Sounds great to me. Definately curious as to what you got in mind!!