looking for info on brix levels and why they are important

[xX Kid Twist Xx]

i want know how i can improve my plants brix levels and why i should. i see earth juice has a line of brix nutes are these any good?

 

[monkeybone]

Brix

Hi KT~

Brix is simple: when the brix is low, the taste is poor, and the insects come. When the brix is high, the taste is superb and the insects seem to busy themselves elsewhere. The farmer's job is simply to remineralize and fertilize in such a way that the plants, properly fed, can develop higher brix.


Professor A. F. W. Brix was a 19th Century German chemist (b.1798, d.1890). He was the first to measure the density of plant juices by floating a hydrometer in them. The winemakers of Europe were concerned that they could not predict which of various grape juices would make the best wine. Being able to judge quality ahead of actual bottling was of immense importance in an industry where a bottle of the best wine might sell for hundreds of times more than a bottle of everyday wine. Professor Brix was greeted as a great hero when he emerged from his laboratory to claim his most generous prize. He was also honored by having the measuring process named after him.

* BRIX is a measure of the percent solids (TSS) in a given weight of plant juice---nothing more---and nothing less.
* BRIX is often expressed another way: BRIX equals the percentage of sucrose. However, if you study the contents of this book, you will soon enough understand that the "sucrose" can vary widely. For, indeed, the BRIX is actually a summation of the pounds of sucrose, fructose, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, proteins, hormones, and other solids in one hundred pounds of any particular plant juice.
* BRIX varies directly with plant QUALITY. For instance, a poor, sour tasting grape from worn out land can test 8 or less BRIX. On the other hand, a full flavored, delicious grape, grown on rich, fertile soil can test 24 or better BRIX.

Remember that sugar is only one of the components of brix. Also remember that many other substances can falsely indicate "brix" readings (although those readings are valid in their own right). Try rubbing alcohol, whiskey, vinegar, or wine. Interestingly, cooking oil, molasses, syrup, and other thick liquids require a refractometer calibrated to read 30-90 brix. Honey is checked with a refractometer calibrated to measure the water within it instead of the solids in the water.

mmm, knowledge, can be dangerous :mad0233:

 

[420Gator]

Hi KT~

Brix is simple: when the brix is low, the taste is poor, and the insects come. When the brix is high, the taste is superb and the insects seem to busy themselves elsewhere. The farmer's job is simply to remineralize and fertilize in such a way that the plants, properly fed, can develop higher brix.


Professor A. F. W. Brix was a 19th Century German chemist (b.1798, d.1890). He was the first to measure the density of plant juices by floating a hydrometer in them. The winemakers of Europe were concerned that they could not predict which of various grape juices would make the best wine. Being able to judge quality ahead of actual bottling was of immense importance in an industry where a bottle of the best wine might sell for hundreds of times more than a bottle of everyday wine. Professor Brix was greeted as a great hero when he emerged from his laboratory to claim his most generous prize. He was also honored by having the measuring process named after him.

* BRIX is a measure of the percent solids (TSS) in a given weight of plant juice---nothing more---and nothing less.
* BRIX is often expressed another way: BRIX equals the percentage of sucrose. However, if you study the contents of this book, you will soon enough understand that the "sucrose" can vary widely. For, indeed, the BRIX is actually a summation of the pounds of sucrose, fructose, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, proteins, hormones, and other solids in one hundred pounds of any particular plant juice.
* BRIX varies directly with plant QUALITY. For instance, a poor, sour tasting grape from worn out land can test 8 or less BRIX. On the other hand, a full flavored, delicious grape, grown on rich, fertile soil can test 24 or better BRIX.

Remember that sugar is only one of the components of brix. Also remember that many other substances can falsely indicate "brix" readings (although those readings are valid in their own right). Try rubbing alcohol, whiskey, vinegar, or wine. Interestingly, cooking oil, molasses, syrup, and other thick liquids require a refractometer calibrated to read 30-90 brix. Honey is checked with a refractometer calibrated to measure the water within it instead of the solids in the water.

mmm, knowledge, can be dangerous :mad0233:

exactly what i was gonna say j/k. but thats great shit, wish we knew what levels pot should be at

 

[xX Kid Twist Xx]

pot should be 12 or higher. what i would also like to know is how can i go about raising my brix levels? is it just by having a healthy plant or is there certain things one can add to assure it?

thank you for your post monkeybone

 

[420Gator]

are u currently monitoring yours?

 

[monkeybone]

KT - I was asking the same questions to myself as I researched brix. I would have to say a uber healthy plant would be at its highest brix level, and the opposite would be true for a stunted runt. I did find several charts on plant brix levels, mainly veggies and fruits, but there are several grains and even hops which we all know is a close relative of cannabis. I'm still sifting through a large read on the subject where I found the info in my post above.

These charts & info might help on how they are doing testing for brix levels.



What I found the most essential in researching this is the need for adding enzymes that make large carb absorption or carb=loading possible. We know that the carbs and sugars don't have a metabolic process yet so they have to have enzymes to break them down into energy. Like Sensizyme for example. The process of breaking down complex sugars and carbs is enzymatic.

There are a couple things I use to grow beneficial bacteria such as piranha, sweetleaf, tarantula, voodoo and carboload. They are the food that feed and grow the bacteria that in turn feeds your plant.

I've read that one should only carb-load in soil or soil-less medium where a large fungus formation can truly benefit the root system. Since I use mycorrhizae in hydroponics and see a huge benefit, I have to think a hydro system can handle more then people give it credit for.

dam, what was I just talking about?
ooh yes, pandora's box,... mmm

 

[monkeybone]

This might answer the how question a little better KT-

"Make Tea Not War"-I use and mix enzymes / fungi / beneficial microbes with sucanat and all my nutes and bubble them for 24 hours in a 5 gallon container. My plants love it. I use a brix meter during flowering to tell if I need to add or reduce my sucanat level in my tea, that's it."

I

 

[xX Kid Twist Xx]

KT - I was asking the same questions to myself as I researched brix. I would have to say a uber healthy plant would be at its highest brix level, and the opposite would be true for a stunted runt. I did find several charts on plant brix levels, mainly veggies and fruits, but there are several grains and even hops which we all know is a close relative of cannabis. I'm still sifting through a large read on the subject where I found the info in my post above.

These charts & info might help on how they are doing testing for brix levels.



What I found the most essential in researching this is the need for adding enzymes that make large carb absorption or carb=loading possible. We know that the carbs and sugars don't have a metabolic process yet so they have to have enzymes to break them down into energy. Like Sensizyme for example. The process of breaking down complex sugars and carbs is enzymatic.

There are a couple things I use to grow beneficial bacteria such as piranha, sweetleaf, tarantula, voodoo and carboload. They are the food that feed and grow the bacteria that in turn feeds your plant.

I've read that one should only carb-load in soil or soil-less medium where a large fungus formation can truly benefit the root system. Since I use mycorrhizae in hydroponics and see a huge benefit, I have to think a hydro system can handle more then people give it credit for.

dam, what was I just talking about?
ooh yes, pandora's box,... mmm

great posts monkeybone, that was a link i was looking at before. i just got some earthjuice hi-brix and i have been using catalyst and hygrozyme on my outdoor plants and they seem to love it. they are just very ehalthy and not a yellow leaf on them. i been kinda using light amounts of hygrozyme less then 5ml per gal. i think i may up it a bit since im now gonna be adding the hi-brix

 

[xX Kid Twist Xx]

taken from a post from BayArea:

I also think understanding " Brix " content can have benefits in comparative tests. Brix is a measure of a combination of various amino acids, oils, proteins, flavonoids, minerals and primarily sugars/carbohydrates within a plant's tissue. Many vineyards and fruit farmers use Brix levels to determine flavor and nutrition values in grapes and fruit. Brix levels can expose some important features in regards to marijuana. It is a great way to monitor your plants health measured using a refractometer. Much in the same way light beams change direction under water a refractometer measures the change in light direction sent through a sample of extracted fluid from the plant. The larger the direction change, the higher the Brix. Basically, as nutrient absorption occurs (specifically carbs and sugars), measured Brix levels rise. If the appropriate ingredient is poorly absorbed Brix levels will remain the same or lower. With that theory in mind we can better determine how well different nutrients react with Marijuana. Interestingly, organic mediums and organic solubles produce much larger Brix numbers. Plants with high Brix numbers are healthy, more pest resistant and full of nutritional value. Essentially the healthier plant is naturally more resistant to pathogens such as insect infestation. Plant eating insects lack the internal organs to properly digest certain sugars (specifically a liver). Undigested sugars will eventually ferment into alcohol killing the insect or disrupting it's digestive system. High Brix typically implies high sugar content hence are generally more unattractive to these bugs. Weak, infested or diseased plants always have lower Brix numbers. High Brix will improve taste, resin production, odor and potency. I feel it's an underestimated value in regards to plant management. If your interested look into Dr. Reams.

 

[monkeybone]

KT- What I like about brix monitoring is you can do real time analysis of the internal health of your plant before and after feeding for each cycle or phase it goes through. Of course this leads to an optimized nutrient regimen for each strain if you chart all levels and changes with each additive.

I found this post;

"According to friends at Humboldt nutrients, the main need for the carbs (molases) are for food for the mycorrhizal/ bacterium to ferment. If growing in Coco the environment is much more conducive to perpetuation of these beneficials.

In Hydro I use a container with lid, with several 1/8th inch holes in the top and bottom. I fill the container with Hydroton pellets and put all the carbs and benefits in there and it becomes a perpetual innoculant...just add molasses. Every time I change the reservation I just put more molasses in the container and replace it into the clean nutes thus perpetually fermenting the innoculants. "

 

[xX Kid Twist Xx]

so you drop the container inside the res?

 

[crom]

Very interesting approach. So all you need is the Brix meter from a hydro store and start monitoring? I have seen these in the past just never dove in.

 

[monkeybone]

so you drop the container inside the res?

Yes KT, use the biggest hydro korrels that float. I have a small 15 gallon pond aerator that has multi surfaced pellets or balls that I am switching to.

Its used to keep the good bacteria in a pond eco system stable so you can grow Koi. Same principle, neutral media where bacteria can grow and colonize on the surfaces and release their children into the water :)

 

[Seamaiden]

KT- What I like about brix monitoring is you can do real time analysis of the internal health of your plant before and after feeding for each cycle or phase it goes through. Of course this leads to an optimized nutrient regimen for each strain if you chart all levels and changes with each additive.

I found this post;

"According to friends at Humboldt nutrients, the main need for the carbs (molases) are for food for the mycorrhizal/ bacterium to ferment. If growing in Coco the environment is much more conducive to perpetuation of these beneficials.

In Hydro I use a container with lid, with several 1/8th inch holes in the top and bottom. I fill the container with Hydroton pellets and put all the carbs and benefits in there and it becomes a perpetual innoculant...just add molasses. Every time I change the reservation I just put more molasses in the container and replace it into the clean nutes thus perpetually fermenting the innoculants. "

Yes KT, use the biggest hydro korrels that float. I have a small 15 gallon pond aerator that has multi surfaced pellets or balls that I am switching to.

Its used to keep the good bacteria in a pond eco system stable so you can grow Koi. Same principle, neutral media where bacteria can grow and colonize on the surfaces and release their children into the water :)

So you're dripping or pumping the reservoir solution through this 'loaded barrel'? Or..? I don't quite understand how you're using this technology, especially when you refer to floating something, that's not how I've ever seen this type of filter used.

 

[monkeybone]

Hi Seamaiden,
I am using the pond barrel now, and yes, I use a power head to pump the solution through the top of the pond barrel, through a mediia filter that is on top of the barrel, then the solution filters through the 'plastic beads' which are coated with living bacteria, then the output goes back into my reservoir.

I don't know how else to continuously grow good bacteria for a hydroponics system, if you have a way, I am all ears :)

 

[monkeybone]

Hi Maiden,
I re-read all the posts and see where I corn-fused you. The floating tub was a way I found another farmer doing it, I tried and it does work by suspending the rocks in a a bacteria rich solution and media (hydroton) that they can grow on. They grow so fast when given a proper diet that they flow out of the floating tub through the small holes into the nutrient solution.

The pond barrel does not float :P It sits externally on a shelving unit so gravity lets the circulating pump do its job taking and returning the nutrient solution to the reservoir.

You only need one type of bacteria system, I just upgraded to use the barrel because I had a large koi pond in my back yard.

Good to meet you btw :)

 

[xX Kid Twist Xx]

doing a bit more reading plants with hi-brix levels tend to have a bluesih sheen to them.

 

[Seamaiden]

Hi Seamaiden,
I am using the pond barrel now, and yes, I use a power head to pump the solution through the top of the pond barrel, through a mediia filter that is on top of the barrel, then the solution filters through the 'plastic beads' which are coated with living bacteria, then the output goes back into my reservoir.

I don't know how else to continuously grow good bacteria for a hydroponics system, if you have a way, I am all ears :)

Hi Maiden,
I re-read all the posts and see where I corn-fused you. The floating tub was a way I found another farmer doing it, I tried and it does work by suspending the rocks in a a bacteria rich solution and media (hydroton) that they can grow on. They grow so fast when given a proper diet that they flow out of the floating tub through the small holes into the nutrient solution.

The pond barrel does not float :P It sits externally on a shelving unit so gravity lets the circulating pump do its job taking and returning the nutrient solution to the reservoir.

You only need one type of bacteria system, I just upgraded to use the barrel because I had a large koi pond in my back yard.

Good to meet you btw :)

Nice to meet you, too. I've been hankering to get a pond installed, get some more fish or something, been such a long time since I've had my fins wet.

That's how I know to use any type of drip filtration, which is what the barrels essentially are. At first I thought, "Is he floating the barrel? How's he making it float? In what? That has to be a huge res.." but what you describe is, as I said, exactly how I know those types of filters to be used. I like that link, too, by the way. Used to be you'd be looking at several hundred dollars for a simple gravity-fed trickle filter like that.

Thanks for the clarification, it sounds like you're making a gigantic culture and keeping it going. Excellent information, thanks for sharing it. :)

 

[PuFFnNugg]

Those are both great ideas Monk, I has fish background as well and always wanted to use tech like this in hydro. Good Stuff!

I see thread is old but gotta ask, I always see everyone cleaning res and pumps often. If your using this tech, how often are you cleaning?

I would think after each cycle, no need to kill your Bene's, Right?

 

[Jalisco Kid]

I use an airless paint screen bag fill it full of bio-balls and place it below my waterfall back to the rez. It is my bennie condo project. JK
I find I use my cardy pH pen more then my brix.