In all my years of research, these are the best tools I've acquired in developement of grow techniques.

#1 Brix Meter; "The hand-held Brix meter was originally designed for farmers to know nutrient levels of their produce and when to harvest crops. This precision instrument (refractometer) has a drop or two of the sap (juice) of the produce placed on the glass and held up to the light to read the Brix scale of zero to 32. The higher the Brix reading, the higher the nutrient levels. Total dissolved solids (or Brix) are measured with the Brix meter. The number on its scale indicates the level of balance of nutrient uptake and complexing of 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."

#2 handheld microscope; to view the "stoma (also stomate; plural stomata, Greek; mouth) is a pore, found in the leaf and stem epidermis that is used for gas exchange. The pore is formed by a pair of specialized parenchyma cells known as guard cells (look like little mouths gobbling up air under magnification) which are responsible for regulating the size of the opening. Air containing carbon dioxide and oxygen enters the plant through these openings where it is used in photosynthesis and respiration, respectively."A nice handheld microscope can see these pores and monitor the exchange of gases in real time proportionate to the response of the Stomata.

#3 Anemometer (wind guage); if you watch to stomata and let them tell you where they like the flow of air (wind speed) then you can regulate the airflow to the inth degree in proportion to growth factors. I found that having regulation of the airspeed in micro-climates is very desirous. Low flow in the early stages and higher in the bud growth stages are very satisfying for the plant...and they reward.

#4 Harvest master climate/CO2 control. Fuzzy logic self learning system designed to keep everything perfect...nuff said.

#5 Nutridose (Auto grow systems) Ph/ nutrients autodoser. I use Coco coir/ Perlite substrate and have the Nutridose prepair my daily nutrient levels every morning. Every day the plants are getting exactly what they need, unlike a resurvoir system that re-uses the same nutes every day. This is perfection. Instead of weekly changes, I scale my daily nutrients by computer every day. The grow response is amazing.

#6 Plant Turntable; I designed a turntable that rotates the plants so every square inch of surface area of each plant (4) get bombarded by photons at the perfect angle (45 degrees) to maximizes lower branch cola developement. So in stead of getting one main cola, you get 8-10 high yielding main colas.

And last but definately not least is PLASMA!

Light Emitting Plasma systems are like getting a little piece of the sun, maximizing the growth potential by full spectrum output. The future is here my friends.

I hope this helps someone. Peace.

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Here it comes!~ The age of light without heat!

Pics of the turntable please. I rotate my plants daily, but Im sure your turntable does a much better job.

I'd like to see a grow side by side with plasma vs traditional HID.

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Current Grow: http://www.rollitup.org/grow-journal...ts-aurora.html

very interesting

I have been draming about the fun of a turntable for my trees and mabe a verticle bulb.

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medical-organic-call me medimorph!
I spell fyne!

Can you elaborate a little on using the brix meter? I'm very interested.

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My "Journal" When do I harvest? a no bullshit approach.

How is plasma more efficient than the alternatives?

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speaks louder than words.
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A brix meter works by squeezing a leaf and measuring the sugars in the juice. If the leaf has a high Brix level it shows your plants love what your doing to them. if for some reason the levels are low, you know something in the equation is not right. Through trial and error and keeping an in depth journal you can eventually work all the variables out to where you are getting the maximum growth at every phase of growth which results in heavier yields. It can help evaluate every tweek you can do in a grow op. Get experimental that's my advice, but do it in a controlled manner.

It works in real time also. I showed a friend an experiment by measuring the Brix at the end of the seven day circulation of his nutrients and the response was very low, showing a deficiency in the nutes (when using a recirculation method, elements are used through the week leaving deficiencies) Then; ten minutes after changing the nutrients in the res, the brix responded by showing the plant had 4 times the relative sugars in the leaf.

(This is also the main reason I advocate coco coir/ perlite/ hand fed/ drain to waste system. Each day the plant gets exactly what it needs fresh.)

@ GrowTech, one 160 watt Light Emitting Plasma 41-02 emitter (release; next Feb) will put out as much usable (PAR) light as 300 watts worth of Ceramic Metal Halide, and it has a smooth full spectral radiant response, not the jagged response of peaks and valleys like all HID's. It almost perfectly mimics the sun. This effect is very desirable. Plus in my design the 'good' UV-A and Narrow band B (310 nm) is harnessed while cutting off any 'bad' UV.

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Here it comes!~ The age of light without heat!

How is a Brix meter and a journal better then my syringe, eyeballs, and journal?

Not trying to be a smartass, just curious as to how that is better then using my eyes, pH, and TDS meters?

Is there a "perfect" Brix reading for plants or does each plant and/or strain have its own readout which you'll need to figure out by using your eyes, pH meters, and TDS meters?

Does that question make sense?

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Check out my journal for links to Youtube videos of my setup:

http://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/250027-bubblelicious-new-york-power-diesel.html

Is this what you're referring to?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ATAGO-DBX-30-Bri...item5ad40a9972

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Check out my journal for links to Youtube videos of my setup:

http://www.rollitup.org/showthread.php?t=250027