Brix, Pest attack and Plant Health
Farmers across India are under utilising a device which as be used as a Fertility meter and give you greater and deeper insights into the health of your crops !
We mostly use Brix meter at harvest where as it should be used on almost daily basis – Twice a day at least if you really want to make the most of it.
A higher sap brix level is what every farmer should target once you seriously start your Nutrition Management Program.
After the sap is extracted and 2 drops put on the brix meter there are the following things a farmer can infer from it :
- A lower brix level means lower plant health has been comprised and it won’t give the expected yield, quality, taste and sweetness.
- If you are finding pest attack happening quite frequently or if your insecticides, herbicides, fungicides consumption has gone up – your brix level will be pretty low than what it should actually be.
- If the minerals and sugars are moving perfectly well inside the plants system it is an indication that your Xylem and Phloem are working efficiently. This will show a higher brix level of the leaf sap.
- A higher brix means your plants are ready to fight Climate Change – they can fight drought & frost better.
The reason why every farmer should be using the Refractometer at least twice a day – Morning & Afternoon is because morning reading should be lower than afternoon reading. The reason is sugars move into the roots at night and this gives a lower brix reading.
So what is A Good Brix Reading for your Crop ?