more on brix index and plant defenses

[Guest guest]

here's another interesting email from the brix talk list. this person's a

top poster so look at the original email below for context.

Date: Thu Jul 31, 2003 7:33 pm

Subject: Re: [brixTalk] Questions from Oceangrown

Rex,

Regarding your point number 1: When I first read that statement in other

literature on brix levels, there is a another point of view to consider. I

think it is perfectly valid to state that higher brix is associated with

higher quality plants. It's the statement, " Higher brix is difficult for

insects to handle and they seek " greener " pastures " , that might get into a

difference of opinion. What I've seen is that high quality plants are

typically disease free and destructive insects are not a problem. The

relationship between destructive insects and high quality plants vs weaker

lower quality plants is also an issue concerning a frequency given off by

weak plants that can be seen by the destructive insects vs plants of higher

quality not giving off that frequency and thus the destructive insects are

not drawn to the high quality plants.

By saying that higher brix are difficult to handle, one must draw the

conclusion that the destructive insects must first sample the plant before

they find out it has a higher brix level. I'm finding that those destructive

insects don't even come near the high quality plants. Bargyla Rateaver, in

" Organic Method Primer Basics, 1994 " writes in chapter 12 and quotes some

work done by Arden and Philip Callahan.

Bargyla writes: pg 63, " Plants are living electrical fields, the conductors,

or antennae of the electrical field, and " an alternating field is vital to

plant function. " Like any electrical system, they need the correct amount of

current of the right type. Plants must have enough nutrient energy to grow

and produce correctly. Plant hairs are wave-guide antennae control systems,

notes Callahan. There is a difference between what healthy and unhealthy

plants emit, and this is what insects can sense. That is why it is important

to make the soil adequate, rather than trying to remediate effects of poor

soil. Since insects can detect lack of health in plants, by utilizing their

ability to recognize frequencies and electrical signals, it behooves us to

keep plants healthy, by providing them soil conducive to soil microorganism

welfare--the real soil we have been so strongly recommending. It is much

better to prevent insect trouble than to look for remedies to get rid of

them. "

This difference of opinion is in effect saying if a plant has high quality,

it doesn't emit a frequency that draws in destructive insects and so they

leave those plants alone. The absence of a weak plant frequency keeps the

plant off the destructive insect menu.

It may be true that the destructive insects (and larva) can't handle the

higher brix, but I think you may find that the insects are not bothering the

plants because the " weak plant " frequency emissions are absent.

I have read some of Dr Maynard Murray's work and his focus was fairly

narrow... mainly upon minerals. That article about a low brix found in a

tomato containing a lot of minerals could be evaluated a number of ways. The

flavors and sweetness of the juice found in different tomatoes varies a lot.

i.e., a slimy tasteless Black Krim, vs a Sweet 100. Having minerals present

in high quantities may not be the sole guarantee that the tomato is in its

highest health as indicated by the brix. An abundance of mineral presence, I

suspect, is only one set of components of plant health. A plant can have

lots of minerals but be short on other components and therefore be low in

health as indicated by the low brix readings. I think the person with the

tomato containing lots of minerals was expecting that tomato to be of the

highest quality. It's possible the minerals were there, but the plant

quality was not high and so the brix levels were low.

I hope all this makes sense...

-- Giannou

<http://www.tandjenterprises.com>

[brixTalk] Questions from Oceangrown

Yesterday I noticed a letter to the editor in ACRES USA from Don

Jansen, a

principal in OceanGrown, along with a response from Walters.

Hopefully, the scan I made will upload to .

Today I received an email from Don via an intermediary. Don's note

fairly

well went over the same ground as the letter to ACRES: " How can I

know a

refractometer is telling me anything about plant quality if I can

get a

" brix " reading on such as hydrogen peroxide? "

I'd like to prepare a coherent response to Don and I'm hopeful you

folks

will point out anything I missed.

The letter will be highlighted along these lines...

1. Brix, as defined, means a reading of the total dissolved solids

in fresh

plant sap. The measure is easy and the concept is sound: plant

quality is

in direct correlation with brix---higher brix meaning higher

quality.

Higher brix is difficult for insects to handle and they seek

" greener "

pastures.

Suze Fisher

Lapdog Design, Inc.

Web Design & Development

http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze3shjg

Weston A. Price Foundation Chapter Leader, Mid Coast Maine

http://www.westonaprice.org

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" The diet-heart idea (the idea that saturated fats and cholesterol cause

heart disease) is the greatest scientific deception of our times. " --

Mann, MD, former Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry at Vanderbilt

University, Tennessee; heart disease researcher.

The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics

<http://www.thincs.org>

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