[shaggyballs]

Brix

Brix is a scale based on the amount that light bends when it passes through a liquid. If one were to place one's hand in a pond and measure the amount it appeared to bend, and then place it in the ocean, it would appear to bend a different amount. That differential light bending is the best tool currently available to consumers to determine the value of crops that are purchased or produced. The brix chart is the scale that anyone can use to determine poor, average, good or excellent in a foodstuff.

So, what exactly is Brix?

"Brix" is a technical term to measure and quantify the amount that light is bent passing through a fluid.

We have all seen the optical effect of a pencil sticking out of water. The straight pencil appears to be bent where it enters the water. This is because water has a different density than air, and so light travels at a different speed in water than in air. Thus, the pencil seems bent.

Actually, it is the light which is bent, not the pencil.

Fishermen must account for this optical displacement effect when they look into water for fish. A fish will appear to be in one location, but its true location may be a few inches away because light bends as it passes from water to air.
This difference between apparent and actual location is caused by this light-bending effect of the different densities of air and water.

Other liquids, glass, transparent crystals, many biological molecules, and other more exotic materials also bend a beam of light. This "refraction" is what gives diamonds and other gems their brilliance and sparkle.

What is Refraction?

"Refraction" is the technical term scientists use to denote this light-bending effect of water and other materials. Each substance will bend - or "refract" - light at a different angle, depending on its specific density. This angle of refraction also changes with certain other conditions, including especially temperature, frequency, magnetism, and concentration.

Scientists have carefully studied many materials to measure how much each will bend a light beam, and created ways to quantify this effect for each material. This numerical data is an index of refraction for that specific substance at a specific temperature.

Some substances, such as quartz crystal, bend different frequencies of light at different angles. Low frequency red light bends less than higher frequency blue. This separates a beam of light into a band of frequencies, which appears to our eye as a rainbow spectrum of colors, from red to violet.

This property is used by chemists in a spectrometer to detect and measure the elemental composition of complex molecules and mixtures. Astronomers measure refraction of a star's light as its signature spectrum to determine its elemental composition, and also distance from Earth and speed.

How does density affect refraction?

Back down on Earth, in agriculture, measuring this light-bending effect provides useful information about the density of fluids, such as soil moisture, irrigation water, plant sap, fruit juice, blood, milk, cell protoplasm, or other body fluids. Pure water at a specific temperature will bend light at a specific angle.

However, any chemical dissolved in the water will change the density of that liquid, and thus change its angle of refraction.
We have all watched salt or sugar crystals slowly sink down in a glass of water, and seen the curling bands of light and shadow that swirl and whorl around the grains as they sink and dissolve. Those bands of light and dark are due to varying light-bending effects of different densities in layers of water around each disassembling, dissolving, descending crystal.

A wide variety of biological substances can increase solution density, and thus cause light to refract (bend) more as it passes through a watery medium:

1. dissolved minerals (salts, acids, alkali)
2. carbohydrates (simple sugars)
3. amino acids (proteins)
4. lipids (special case: oil & water don't mix; form thin films)
5. almost any molecule with covalent bonding
6. very large suspended particles (colloids)

Measuring this change in the angle of refraction can give helpful data and insight about the density and chemical composition of that solution.

How does this affect plant sap?

In the case of plant sap, it is primarily sugars in plant juice that cause refraction. This is because the primary activity of plants is photosynthesis‚ – using sunshine to combine carbon dioxide and water to form sugars. This sunlight stored in carbon rings is the primary source of energy for most of biology on Earth, including humans - especially our nervous system.

Thus, the principal substance carried by plant sap fluids is these energy-rich carbohydrate chemicals: sugars – the sweetness of life.

Normally, the second most abundant refractive substances in plant sap are mineral ions. However, sugars are quite large compared to mineral ions. Each sugar molecule consists of at least two dozen covalent bonds in a molecule composed of twenty to two dozen or more atoms. Thus, sugars tend to affect the index of refraction more than minerals.

Thus, Brix is mostly a measure of sugars and minerals dissolved in water. however, many other chemicals may be present and contribute some small factor to the Brix reading.

What is a Refractometer?




A refractometer is the instrument used to obtain a brix reading. This simple, hand-held measures the amount of refraction (or bend) in a beam of light that passes through the plant sap. A conscientious nutrient-dense grower takes regular, routine field measurements of plant sap density.

Refractometers come in three basic types: optical, digital and laboratory. For growers, the first two are portable, handheld and simple to operate in the field.

How to use an optical refractometer

Squeeze sap out of a plant.
Put 2 drops on the prism.
Close the prism cover
Point to a light source.
Focus the eyepiece.
Read the measurement.

Where light & dark fields intersect is the brix number.
Optical refractometers require a few drops of solution to be spread thinly on the surface of a prism. Then, like a tiny telescope or microscope, you peer down a long hollow tube at the prism. Part of the light beam passes through the thin film of plant sap on the prism, while the rest bypasses this specimen.

An adjustment knob allows you to align light and dark areas on a screen to determine the angle of refraction, and thus the solution density. A scale in the viewfinder allows you to easily identify the Brix number.

Digital refractometers are simpler to operate and easier to read. Just put a few drops of liquid in the well hole, and press the switch. The Brix number appears in the digital readout. Both types work great, although digital models require a battery to operate.

What plant part is used for a Brix reading?

Whatever part you eat, if it is ripe. If it is not ripe, take the most recent mature leaves that have had at least two hours of full sunlight. Ideally, measurements are taken at the same time of day every day, so you can compare throughout the growing season.

Why is it called Brix?

Professor Adolf Ferdinand Wenceslaus Brix, a 19th Century German chemist (1798-1890), was the first to measure the density of plant juices. Europe's winemakers 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's hydrometer worked, but it was cumbersome and required a tall graduate of juice to actually conduct the measure. This was OK for the vineyard wine cellar, but a nuisance to the grower in the field who wished to squeeze perhaps a single growing grape to judge its potential quality.

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.

Adolf Ferdinand Wenceslaus Brix (b. February 20, 1798 in Wesel, d. February 14, 1870 in Charlottenburg, Berlin) was a German mathematician and engineer. The unit degree Brix (°Bx) for specific gravity of liquids is named after him.

Brix made a career as a civil servant in professions related to civil engineering, measurements and manufacture (1827 Bauconducteur, 1834 Fabriken-Commisionsrath, 1853 geheimer Regierungsrath) and retired in 1866 (when he was promoted to geheimer Oberregierungsrath). He was director of the Royal Prussian Commission for Measurements, member of a technical committee in the Ministry of Trade, and the technical building committee. He was also a teacher of applied mathematics at Gewerbeinstitut zu Berlin (1828-1850), as well as in higher analysis and applied mathematics at the Bauakademie, both of which are forerunners of the Technical University of Berlin.

Who was Carey Reams?

Dr. Carey A. Reams was a a Florida native and agricultural engineer who ran a large lab in Orlando from 1931 to 1968, and made Brix a popular method in food production. In his college years, Reams discovered huge differences in the mineral content of fruits and vegetables, depending on how and where they were grown. He retired to further his research and give seminars and lectures all around the country.

Reams developed a following of farmers because they found that his methods produced crops of far superior quality. For many years, citrus and grape growers had used the Brix measurement to evaluate the quality of their produce. Reams took that knowledge and formulated a Brix chart, which covers most of the common fruits, vegetables and forage crops.

Shortly after Acres USA began publishing its monthly magazine on ecological agriculture, Reams noticed the paper's contributors talked about higher quality food production, no one had a method to measure and monitor such quality. One day Reams walked into Charles Walters' office with a copy of his Brix chart. The reverberations have been felt from one end of agriculture to the other.

Reams verified that the "soft" rock phosphate, washed away as an "impurity" while cleaning "hard" phosphate rock during the manufacture of acidulated phosphoric fertilizers was, indeed, a prime resource for the biological farmer. Combined with poultry litter and high-calcium lime, and all under the watchful eye of Reams, the formerly disdained soft rock phosphate produced superb highly-mineralized citrus as well as other crops.

Reams was well aware that citrus crop quality was directly proportional to juice richness. His years of incessant laboratory experiments had proven, over and over, that the mineral content of a crop marched in lockstep to the "heaviness" of the juice it contained.

History does not record when Reams first realized that the concept applied to other crops than grapes and oranges. Nor does history record when he first picked up a refractometer and said, "I wonder?" Did someone else say, "Dr. Reams, take a look at this," or did it come to him as inspiration?

Whatever the answer to those questions, it is known that he created a bombshell in the early 1970's when he, refractometer in hand, walked into the office of ACRES USA and placed a simple chart on the editor's desk. That chart correlated brix numbers with four general quality levels for most fruits and vegetables. Copied innumerous times, it has made its way around the world over and over.

What proof shows that higher brix means higher quality?

Centuries of wine making and work with other fruits and vegetables always show direct relations between high Brix and high quality, expressed most simply and directly as superior taste. The process is somewhat altered for the gardener or farmer in that they test the leaf of the growing plant much earlier and are therefore afforded the opportunity to correct soil deficiencies before the crop matures. The gardener or farmer also benefits in that they soon learn that any crop with 12 or better leaf Brix will not be bothered by insect pests.

High Brix Plants Are Insect And Disease Resistant

Here we see the handiwork of our Creator. Plants in poor health emit an electo-magnetic frequency that insects tune in to. This in effect calls them in for a feast. Plants in good health emit a different frequency that insects do not tune in to. Nature has been designed to use insects to get rid of poor quality plants that are unfit for human consumption. In the same way a poorly balanced soil will produce plants susceptible to disease. Properly balanced soil will produce plants resistant to disease.

Brix measures the percent solids (TSS) in a given weight of plant juice‚ nothing more‚ nothing less.
Brix is often expressed as the percentage of sucrose. However, the "sucrose" can vary widely.
Brix is actually a sum of the pounds of sucrose, fructose, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, proteins, hormones, and other solids in one hundred pounds of 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.

Total dissolved solids (or Brix), measured with the ATC-1e Refractometer.
This number indicates the level of balance of nutrient uptake and complexing into sugars or proteins in the photosynthesis factory – the leaf.
If Brix is low, even after several hours of sunshine, some element(s) are missing in the photosynthesis factory.
Ions, if present, have not been "complexed" into sugars or proteins.
pH, measured with the Cardy pH Twin Meter, indicates elements, which may be out of balance.
For pH<6.4, consider if there is a need for Ca, Mg, K, or Na. For pH>6.4, consider possible need for phosphates or sulfates.

If the proper elements are selected and applied, the Brix reading will increase and the pH will go to the desired area of approximately 6.4. EC, measured with the Cardy Twin EC Meter, indicates the level of simple ion uptake into the plant sap.

With low Brix crop, if sap EC is too low, elements are not being made available to the plant. Look at the EC of soil/water extract (or ERGS) and take appropriate steps to correct the condition.
If sap EC is too high, elements or ions are not being "complexed" and ions such as nitrate nitrogen may be at excessive levels.

Remember that sugar is only one of the components of brix.
Also remember that many other substances can falsely indicate "brix" readings: rubbing alcohol, whiskey, vinegar, or wine (although those readings are valid in their own right). 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 in it instead of solids in water.

Degrees Brix (symbol °Bx)

Degrees Brix is the sugar content of an aqueous solution. One degree Brix is 1 gram of sucrose in 100 grams of solution and represents the strength of the solution as percentage by weight (% w/w).

If the solution contains dissolved solids other than pure sucrose, then the °Bx only approximates the dissolved solid content.

The °Bx is traditionally used in the wine, sugar, fruit juice, and honey industries.
Comparable scales for indicating sucrose content are the degree Plato (°P), which is widely used by the brewing industry, and the degree Balling, which is the oldest of the three systems and therefore mostly found in older textbooks, but also still in use in some parts of the world.

A sucrose solution with an apparent specific gravity (20°/20°C) of 1.040 would be 9.99325 °Bx or 9.99359 °P while the representative sugar body, the International Commission for Uniform Methods of Sugar Analysis (ICUMSA), in favor of mass fraction, would report the solution strength as 9.99249%.

Because the differences between the systems are of little practical significance (the differences are less than the precision of the instruments) and wide historical use of the Brix unit, modern instruments calculate mass fraction using ICUMSA official formulas but report the result as °Bx.


There are four bases to achieving high brix soil:

1.)Foundational minerals. These are your rock powders, Limestone, Soft Rock Phosphate, Gypsum. Other things could conceivably be used as well, but those are cheap, reliable and available. The single most important mineral for High Brix is Calcium, followed by Phosphorus.

2.)Soil Energy. ERGS (Energy Released per Gram per Second). No energy in the soil, no growth of the plant. Fertilizers, organic material, salts....all increase ERGS.

3.)Soil Biology. These are the microbes, nematodes and fungi that inhabit the root zone and break down all the organic material and present it to the plant. We accomplish proper soil biology with humus and we boost it with microbial teas and root inoculates.

4.)Trace Elements. The "micro's." Magnesium, zinc, boron, iron, manganese, copper, molybdenum, sulfur, etc.

We don't put these things in the soil in the typical NPK ratio's that you see on plant food bottles. These things go into the soil in order to make the soil biology happy. For example, most of the phosphorus isn't available to the plant at all. Same with the calcium. But the microbes love it.

The plants, courtesy of the soil life, get anything they want, as much as they want. They never burn, they never lack.

Foliar

You supercharge the Brix in the plant tissue via Foliar Feeding. Phosphorus is the "shipping specialist" in the plant. Most things the plant needs come piggy backed as a phosphate, so increasing the phosphorus and calcium levels in the plant increases the sugar content in the leaves, which the plant sends down to the roots in the form of "root exudates." These root exudates feed and signal microbes and fungi that live on the roots, and they take the sugar and use it to form humic/fulvic acids so they can digest minerals and organic matter and feed the plant.

The foliar sprays act like a supercharger, while the soil acts like a gas tank. The microbes are the engine.....and the plants are the passengers who enjoy the ride.



As a general rule, within a given species of plant, the higher the ºBrix the higher the sugar content, mineral content, protein content, and greater overall nutrient density. So it is an excellent cross-sectional evaluator of the health of the plant.

To test Cannabis:
You can cut off a large leaf off and test the juice that comes out of the stem.
Try to roll it up like a toothpaste tube.
Or use a garlic press for leaf and such.
Always take samples from the same portion of the plant at the same time of day.
I think a Typical mid-day brix fluctuating between 12 and 16 for cannabis is a good number to shoot for.
But higher is not always better.

Sap target pH is 6.4. lower pH and brix usually indicates deficiency.

In addition to the plant sap tests above, the following tests can be useful in monitoring the health of your crops:

I.R. Stress, measured with an InfraRed Sensor. The more elevated the foliage temperature is above ambient air temperature, the more stress the plant is exhibiting. This is especially useful for identifying "hot spots" in your room.

Chlorophyll, measured with a chlorophyll meter. The chlorophyll reading can be especially useful in confirming suspicions of low nitrogen.

Soil penetration resistance, measured with a penetrometer.

cool links
https://www.crossroads.ws/CRActive/PikeAg.htm

Cool vid.
How to test your Brix Level on Medical Marijuana, Icemud's grow videos... - YouTube

[Razzurrection]

i've heard of Brix Mix used in vineyards to increase the sugar content in the grapes.

[Only Ornamental]

Nice thread shaggyballs .

Though with cannabis, there are a few things to consider, because cannabis is more often smoked than eaten.

Plants (in general) accumulate basically amino acids in fall, whereas they store mainly carbohydrates in summer. That means, weak autumn lighting and low temperatures in addition to flushing decrease the amount of sugar considerably.
Also, the preferred harvest before sunrise and eventual storage for two days in the dark prior to chopping lowers sugar content of aerial parts. The curing process lowers it even more.
Obviously, sugar isn't appreciated in a joint (well, amino acids and proteins even less, but that's beside the point) and hence, a low °Bx at harvest should logically be favoured.

[shaggyballs]

Thank you for you input.
Very well stated.
I do know brix is a good health indicator.
But the numbers at different stages of growth is beyond my knowledge.
Thanks for chiming in Ornamental.

[Only Ornamental]

And there is even more:
The taste of cannabis comes mainly from essential oil in the trichomes; the juice on the other hand is water from within the plant tissue.
Sure, a healthy grown plant will have more nutrients and more primary metabolites (the latter are often the main goal of agricultural crops) and obviously a cannabis plant which thrives will also result in good healt and therefore a nice harvest. But we are interested in secondary metabolites, more precisely resin. Its production (BTW in many aromatic spices too) is often coupled to defense mechanisms and therefore increased under 'stress', that may be intense light exposure, temperature extremes, predators, shortage in available nutrients, drought etc. and that is exactly what growers do to their plants during the final weeks of the season (and also before).
OK, drought for example will result in drier plant matter and hence a concentrated sap -> °Bx rises and coincides maybe with a better harvest (if the plant doesn't get killed by the process). That's also what winemakers do with noble rot and when making straw wine or ice wine (they speak of the oechsle scale in that case) .

[wallywombat]

Wooohoooo someone has put brix into plain English that even I can understand , thank you a lot for your information

[milkyjoe]

Originally Posted by Only Ornamental

And there is even more:
The taste of cannabis comes mainly from essential oil in the trichomes; the juice on the other hand is water from within the plant tissue.
Sure, a healthy grown plant will have more nutrients and more primary metabolites (the latter are often the main goal of agricultural crops) and obviously a cannabis plant which thrives will also result in good healt and therefore a nice harvest. But we are interested in secondary metabolites, more precisely resin. Its production (BTW in many aromatic spices too) is often coupled to defense mechanisms and therefore increased under 'stress', that may be intense light exposure, temperature extremes, predators, shortage in available nutrients, drought etc. and that is exactly what growers do to their plants during the final weeks of the season (and also before).
OK, drought for example will result in drier plant matter and hence a concentrated sap -> °Bx rises and coincides maybe with a better harvest (if the plant doesn't get killed by the process). That's also what winemakers do with noble rot and when making straw wine or ice wine (they speak of the oechsle scale in that case) .

The stress thing works to a certain extent...the question I am struggling with is if it is not maybe better to provide the plant with enough energy to make more fat which could then be converted into essential oils.

I have been told this is being done in mint production with outstanding results.

Do you have an opinion?

I have yet to see good application of Brix monitoring in relation to cannabis growing. We just aren't there yet.

[Only Ornamental]

Originally Posted by milkyjoe

The stress thing works to a certain extent...the question I am struggling with is if it is not maybe better to provide the plant with enough energy to make more fat which could then be converted into essential oils.

I have been told this is being done in mint production with outstanding results.

Do you have an opinion?

Good question .
Sure, it only works to a certain extent and that's why everyone on this forum (and likely others) is discussing on how/what/when etc.
Fat? You mean fat like fatty acids, triglycerids, oil and such?
That has nothing to do with secondary metabolites and is also not the main energy storage in plants (unlike human bellies and bottoms). I've observed that with peppermint and lemon balm too; they get better when boosted. On the other hand, rosemary and thyme will just grow tall but the aroma goes down the drain. Mint and balm thrive in half shade whereas the others like full sun exposure... got to run, dog has the squits..

[shaggyballs]

Lipids are a group of naturally occurring molecules that include fats, waxes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamins A, D, E, and K), monoglycerides, diglycerides, triglycerides, phospholipids, and others.

The main biological functions of lipids include storing energy, signaling, and acting as structural components of cell membranes.
Lipids have applications in the cosmetic and food industries as well as in nanotechnology.

Lipids may be broadly defined as hydrophobic or amphiphilic small molecules; the amphiphilic nature of some lipids allows them to form structures such as vesicles, liposomes, or membranes in an aqueous environment.
Biological lipids originate entirely or in part from two distinct types of biochemical subunits or "building-blocks": ketoacyl and isoprene groups.

Using this approach, lipids may be divided into eight categories: fatty acids, glycerolipids, glycerophospholipids, sphingolipids, saccharolipids, and polyketides (derived from condensation of ketoacyl subunits); and sterol lipids and prenol lipids (derived from condensation of isoprene subunits).

Although the term lipid is sometimes used as a synonym for fats, fats are a subgroup of lipids called triglycerides.
Lipids also encompass molecules such as fatty acids and their derivatives (including tri-, di-, monoglycerides, and phospholipids), as well as other sterol-containing metabolites.

Lipids are only one key fat for secondary metabolites according to my notes!!
But I only understand half of what I read????
................