What is brix? A plant utilizes the sun's energy, minerals, water, and CO2 to produce sugar through the process of photosynthesis. The level of this sugar can be measured in terms of BRIX. This is measured with a tool called a refractometer. The sap of a plant is squeezed onto the lense of the refractometer and a reading between 0 and 32 is taken.
How does this relate to nutrition? The ability of a plant to take up minerals and produce sugar is directly related to the plants health and level of nutrition it passes on to an animal or human. A plant that has a BRIX of less than 7 is susceptible to every fungus, weed and insect pressure that is present in the field. It also has very little nutrition to pass on to the animal or human that eats it. As humans we eat on a nutritional basis with no regard for quantity. The more nutrition the food has, the less you need to eat.
How can the BRIX be increased in a plant? All things start with the soil. If the soil is out of balance, the plants growing in that soil will be unhealthy. Bringing the soil back to health starts with calcium and phosphorus. Calcium is a heavy mineral that goes down through the soil profile over time. If the soil isn't turned over to recycle the calcium, the soil will become deficient. Signs of this are hard compacted soils that have limited ability to absorb water and will crack open when it dries out. Calcium helps to open up the soil deepening the aerobic zone and allowing it to breathe which supports the beneficial microbes and fungi in the soil. These microbes and fungi break down organic matter into plant available minerals. Calcium also sets the environment for phosphorus to transport those minerals to the plant.
What is a good BRIX level? A starting point would be 7. Above seven will deter most of your pathogenic fungus and mold. As the level rises over 10, the weed pressures will start to subside. Weeds come in to fix deficiencies in the soil and for the most part enjoy a low calcium low phosphorus environment. The further out of balance your soil is, the tougher variety of weed that will grow there. Our next goal is above 14. At this level, plant loving insects can't feed. An insect's job in nature is to clean up dead, diseased, or sick plants not fit for human consumption. A plant feeding insect has no pancreas which makes it unable to metabolize sugar at levels over 14. You can squeeze the sap from any plant that you eat, leaves from a vegetative plant, or the fruit from a fruiting plant.
The key to good health is good food, and good food starts with balanced soil. High BRIX nutrient dense food tastes better, and has a longer shelf life in addition to being healthier.
