Doc Bud's High Brix Q&A With Pictures

[Skybound]

I believe that in order for me to make a decent first spray, I would want to emulate the contents of dry mass, or even the ratios of the contents. Being such a novice, it's difficult to fully understand if that data will be of use to me, let alone how to explain the validity of such a whim, but I feel like being able to see test results of high brix cannabis leaves will give me better insights to formulate one or more foliar sprays to try out.

 

[Doc Bud]

I believe that in order for me to make a decent first spray, I would want to emulate the contents of dry mass, or even the ratios of the contents. Being such a novice, it's difficult to fully understand if that data will be of use to me, let alone how to explain the validity of such a whim, but I feel like being able to see test results of high brix cannabis leaves will give me better insights to formulate one or more foliar sprays to try out.

I would suggest first learning how plants work. If we could improve a crop by simply spraying it with a nutrient solution based on leaf testing, every crop would be high brix, nutrient dense and perfect.

Foliar sprays CAN mitigate a limited deficiency. That's true. But they can't take bad soil and make it good.

But the way we use foliars in High Brix has nothing to do with deficiencies, but rather everything to do with revving up the soil life via root exudates. We test the soil in detail, not the plants. A refractometer is completely adequate to test whether something is working or not, but the answer to problems lies in the soil, not the leaves.

There are several fallacies on the webpage you linked:

1. They say use a wetting agent and suggest soap! Do NOT use a wetting/sticker/spreader.....especially soap. <------only a novice who copies and pastes info, not really understanding the science would say such a thing.

The spray must be quite acidic (hence no soap) if it is to penetrate the leaves. This changes the way the elements in the spray react with eachother. You can't just look at a leaf analysis and mix up the "missing nutrients" and spray it on. You must first understand which form the nutrients will be absorbed and what will happen if you acidify the nutrient solution....will new compounds form? Will the compounds you think will feed the plant ionize and link with another cation???

2. they say, "Don't spray during flower." Utter nonsense. This is prohibition mentality on display. The time the foliar benefits most is during bloom.

I'll close by quoting myself:

"""When the soil is dialed in and the microbes are happily chomping away at rocks and delivering them to the plant as food, the plant produces sugars and other compounds in the leaves and sends them down to the roots in the form of Root Exudates. The microbes crave these sweet exudates and will work day and night eating rocks for a sweet hit of that sugar! Even more, the plant customizes root exudates to actually communicate and signal the soil microbes to deliver certain types of nutrition. """

You'll come up against a big wall in your quest to use foliar sprays to increase brix in hydro: You've got no microbes to signal via root exudates! it's like having a keyboard but no computer.....type all you want, but nothing changes.

The other major issue with foliars in hydro is osmotic pressure. If you forgot to add nutes to your rez....and the plants started to yellow then an emergency foliar spray might help in the short term, until you got nutes in the rez.....

But if you're feeding high PPM salts and you further add salts to the leaves via foliar feeding.....now you've got a serious osmotic pressure problem. Crispy claws are the result.

Foliar sprays, generally speaking, are always used with soil.

 

[Mr. Krip]

I would suggest first learning how plants work. If we could improve a crop by simply spraying it with a nutrient solution based on leaf testing, every crop would be high brix, nutrient dense and perfect.

Foliar sprays CAN mitigate a limited deficiency. That's true. But they can't take bad soil and make it good.

But the way we use foliars in High Brix has nothing to do with deficiencies, but rather everything to do with revving up the soil life via root exudates. We test the soil in detail, not the plants. A refractometer is completely adequate to test whether something is working or not, but the answer to problems lies in the soil, not the leaves.

There are several fallacies on the webpage you linked:

1. They say use a wetting agent and suggest soap! Do NOT use a wetting/sticker/spreader.....especially soap. <------only a novice who copies and pastes info, not really understanding the science would say such a thing.

The spray must be quite acidic (hence no soap) if it is to penetrate the leaves. This changes the way the elements in the spray react with eachother. You can't just look at a leaf analysis and mix up the "missing nutrients" and spray it on. You must first understand which form the nutrients will be absorbed and what will happen if you acidify the nutrient solution....will new compounds form? Will the compounds you think will feed the plant ionize and link with another cation???

2. they say, "Don't spray during flower." Utter nonsense. This is prohibition mentality on display. The time the foliar benefits most is during bloom.

I'll close by quoting myself:

"""When the soil is dialed in and the microbes are happily chomping away at rocks and delivering them to the plant as food, the plant produces sugars and other compounds in the leaves and sends them down to the roots in the form of Root Exudates. The microbes crave these sweet exudates and will work day and night eating rocks for a sweet hit of that sugar! Even more, the plant customizes root exudates to actually communicate and signal the soil microbes to deliver certain types of nutrition. """

You'll come up against a big wall in your quest to use foliar sprays to increase brix in hydro: You've got no microbes to signal via root exudates! it's like having a keyboard but no computer.....type all you want, but nothing changes.

The other major issue with foliars in hydro is osmotic pressure. If you forgot to add nutes to your rez....and the plants started to yellow then an emergency foliar spray might help in the short term, until you got nutes in the rez.....

But if you're feeding high PPM salts and you further add salts to the leaves via foliar feeding.....now you've got a serious osmotic pressure problem. Crispy claws are the result.

Foliar sprays, generally speaking, are always used with soil.

When I was doing hydro, the only time I would ever foliar feed was if I suspected some problem with the roots and their ability to uptake nutrients from the res. Other than that, IMHO, you want those roots doing all the feeding and not the leaves. If you folar in hydro, the plant has no reason to develop an extensive root system since it's getting what it needs through its leaves.

 

[Doc Bud]

When I was doing hydro, the only time I would ever foliar feed was if I suspected some problem with the roots and their ability to uptake nutrients from the res. Other than that, IMHO, you want those roots doing all the feeding and not the leaves. If you folar in hydro, the plant has no reason to develop an extensive root system since it's getting what it needs through its leaves.

I think we should just stick to pesticides and miticides as foliars.....unless they are properly designed to work with the soil.

We use 3 foliar sprays with the kit....but for folks who test their native soil, there are actually 3 additional sprays that may or may not be recommended. Sometimes, the soil test calls for sprays I don't even carry....usually for very sandy soil or green leafies in sandy soil.

I can't stress how important it is to learn how things work and why we use them before attempting a home-made foliar spray. Like I said:

""Just spraying some crap on the plant because your cousin knows a guy in Mendo, won't cut it! "" (from the website)

Don't be the guy who sprays crap, the guy in Mendo or the cousin either! A soil test is required in order to formulate a foliar spray that isn't crap.

 

[Slowpuffer]

I use the CAT drench on pepper and tomato plants when I'm ready for blossoms. They seem to appear the day after the CAT drench. My tomato plants get huge in kit soil so I like to get them making tomatoes before the plant gets so big I have to water twice a day. Growing them in a container outside is tough to keep them moist when they get big.

What size is your pots? I'm using 10gl. fabric bags.

 

[Neiko]

What size is your pots? I'm using 10gl. fabric bags.

That's what I used, then switched to a 15 gallon plastic pot and the tomatoes just got bigger. I straightened out one plant when it was done and it measured close to 15'. It had wrapped itself around my deck railing and just kinda weaved around it. I had some very juicy and heavy tomatoes. The old folks in my family crave those tomatoes like it's a drug. My mother would say it was like when she was a kid. She wouldn't eat store bought tomatoes after eating high brix tomatoes.

 

[Blazinjones]

I posted these in my journal yesterday but figured I would post them here too. I potted a clone in some third run soil the other day and watered in with transplant. A day or two later an the top of the pot looked like this:

IMG_1460.JPG

• TheGreenYeti
• May 27, 2019

IMG_1461.JPG

• TheGreenYeti
• May 27, 2019

IMG_1463.JPG

• TheGreenYeti
• May 27, 2019

IMG_1464.JPG

• TheGreenYeti
• May 27, 2019

This is what my pots normally look like:

IMG_1462.JPG

• TheGreenYeti
• May 27, 2019

Holy shizz fuzzball lol I hope that's ok.!.! I'm sure some one more knowledgeable then I will chime in. But yea good luck n hope it's the good fuzz .

But I figured I'd do a small update on my new seedlings I started I'm 5 for 5. I got both Red Leicester Tease both Sweet Tooth and my L.A. S.A.G.E. CBD to pop up above ground now. I thought my R.L.T was taking longer then the others to pop up. But nope I just planted her slightly to deep. Cause wen I dug around to check on things last night i found her little round leaves all yellow dieing for light. So I undug her just in time cause 2day they are looking green an i think will make it so i got her up just in the knick of time I believe. Any time for pics lol.

Up first are my 2 Sweet Tooth seedlings in round 2 soil this time again.

New HB Sweet Tooth seedlings

• Blazinjones
• May 31, 2019

Also in round 2 soil we got my L.A. S.A.G.E. CBD seedling.

New HB L.A S.A.G.E. CBD seedling

• Blazinjones
• May 31, 2019

Then here we got both of the Red Leicester Tease seedlings. The 2nd pic is the Red Leicester Tease seedling that I dug up jus in the knick of time lol.

New HB seedling Red Leicester Tease

• Blazinjones
• May 31, 2019

New Red Leicester Tease seedling caught jus in time

• Blazinjones
• May 31, 2019

Then here they the R.L.T. seedlings as of right now. See how the yellow one is gettn her color back but is a tad smaller then her sister. The 1st pic is of the yellow girl turned hulk lol (I jus mean she turned green now).

The yellow HB R.L.T seedling now green lol

• Blazinjones
• May 31, 2019

New HB Red Leicester Tease seedling

• Blazinjones
• May 31, 2019

 

[Slowpuffer]

That's what I used, then switched to a 15 gallon plastic pot and the tomatoes just got bigger. I straightened out one plant when it was done and it measured close to 15'. It had wrapped itself around my deck railing and just kinda weaved around it. I had some very juicy and heavy tomatoes. The old folks in my family crave those tomatoes like it's a drug. My mother would say it was like when she was a kid. She wouldn't eat store bought tomatoes after eating high brix tomatoes.

 

[Slowpuffer]

[/QUOT

That's what I used, then switched to a 15 gallon plastic pot and the tomatoes just got bigger. I straightened out one plant when it was done and it measured close to 15'. It had wrapped itself around my deck railing and just kinda weaved around it. I had some very juicy and heavy tomatoes. The old folks in my family crave those tomatoes like it's a drug. My mother would say it was like when she was a kid. She wouldn't eat store bought tomatoes after eating high brix tomatoes.

yeah, neikodog, I've had those garden tomatoes, that just have that special taste and hopefully these will be even better. Thanks for sharing how you do it !! I'm hoping these two can be tied to the railing somehow. Or I could sit them down at ground level and gain two foot height. One is a grape tomato, other is a big boy. I will put the other 5 big boys in the veg. garden. Now I'm looking for a bell pepper for the salad !!

View media item 1684594

 

[pookss]

smurfzilla coming down in a few days.

 

[Slowpuffer]

smurfzilla coming down in a few days.

Nice !!

 

[Pennywise]

Cool plant!

 

[StoneyMemoirs]

Do they taste different in hibrix ??

Do they taste different in hibrix ??

Oh....hell yes. More "pepper" flavor, much sweeter, and friends and family have yet to stop asking me for my smoked/dried manzano powder. If you have some nice pepper seeds to trade, I'd consider sending you a few seeds...third gen selecting then best-performing plant out of 100 every year in SF.....


cheers

 

[medmanmike]

Went to the dollar store the other day. Saw some really nice "fake" plants so I bought one. Kind of reminded me of another plant I’ve seen once or twice......

Auto Ganja Dwarf. Harvested today. 69 days from seed. Less than 24” high. 205.5 g wet.

 

[Mr. Krip]

Went to the dollar store the other day. Saw some really nice "fake" plants so I bought one. Kind of reminded me of another plant I’ve seen once or twice......

Auto Ganja Dwarf. Harvested today. 69 days from seed. Less than 24” high. 205.5 g wet.

Very nice, Brother!

 

[Slowpuffer]

Oh....hell yes. More "pepper" flavor, much sweeter, and friends and family have yet to stop asking me for my smoked/dried manzano powder. If you have some nice pepper seeds to trade, I'd consider sending you a few seeds...third gen selecting then best-performing plant out of 100 every year in SF.....


cheers

 

[Slowpuffer]

Very nice, Brother!

I gotta find that $ store, those are nice fake plants !! Hope to match that someday soon.

 

[Slowpuffer]

Oh....hell yes. More "pepper" flavor, much sweeter, and friends and family have yet to stop asking me for my smoked/dried manzano powder. If you have some nice pepper seeds to trade, I'd consider sending you a few seeds...third gen selecting then best-performing plant out of 100 every year in SF.....


cheers

StoneyMemoirs, Thanks for the offer, but my old stomach can't take the heat anymore. Jalapeno is about as wild as I ride, these days. I didn't have enough kit soil left for a pepper, so I'll put Lady bell in 2d. run COM super soil. !! I have one grape and one big boy tomato in docs soil. Again, thanks for the offer !!

 

[Mr. Krip]

Quick testimonial....

Last week, I replanted a front bed with about 20 assorted small yard plants. Yesterday, I noticed one of them had wilted, I'm sure due to transplant shock cuz' I've been giving the bed plenty of water having just planted.

I figured, "Oh well, I'll just exchange it for free at Homey's, where I purchased it" but, just for the hell of it, I mixed up a batch of De-Stress, which I've never really had to use since my first grow with the kit, and gave the plant a good misting.

It was pretty hot this afternoon and we had a bit of rain today, so I just went outside to dig up the dead plant and return it and saw it had totally come back to life and, aside from a few leaves with some brown spots, basically looks as healthy as any of the others.

So, if you have any house or garden plants looking wilty, you may want to give 'em a shot of De-Stress!

 

[dr.h00k]

...so...I have a couple water questions...do any current brixer's stray from the distilled/RO water recommendation?...ie. well water...I've never been big on gadgets and measuring, but someone gave me a TDS meter a ways back, so recently I checked my well water...200PPM...I then checked the lake water out front of my place...30 PPM...would the lake water be at an acceptable level with kit soil??...
...also...on May 24th, I put 6 seeds in soil with a dusting of roots and watered/soaked their 1 gal. pots with a transplant drench...4 were kit soil, the other 2, my own blend...except for one kit no-show plant, everyone seems happy...is there a general consensus on how long straight watering goes on before starting with the goodies provided in the kit regime?...

...cheerz... ...h00k......