Nieft / Secola wrote: > The following url claims to describe research which doesn't support the > high brix--fewer pests theory, at least in grape vines...kinda preliminary > though. > > http://www.atinet.org/cati/upda/97/fall/study_results.html Having grown enough crops to know---at a gut level---that high Brix plants are immune to pests and diseases, I found this report of sufficient interest to send for a paper copy several months ago. Without in any way casting doubt on Mark, I do question the whole thing. I also wish he had brought in one of the top-notch Brix-conscious consultants to review his data before he made his conclusions. Those consultants are not out there saying---to a man---there is a true relationship between Brix levels and insect pressures for naught. Their jobs depend on providing the advice that puts abundant low-pesticide grapes in the hands of vintners producing premium wines. My personal crossing of the Rubicon came some years ago when I walked out to one of my gardens and realized the potato bugs were attacking one end of a long row of potatoes. A little refractometer checking showed *no* bugs at the end with 12 Brix juice in the leaves; *some* bugs toward the middle where there was 9-10 Brix leaf juice; and *many* bugs at the end with 7 Brix leaf juice. Deep thought caused me to remember the fact that I had run short in that 7 Brix area when I had been spreading wood ashes the previous fall. Obviously, at least in my mind, a failure to properly remineralize had entered the picture. Fresno State, bless 'em, is a good and honorable school. However I, for one, will hold back a full trust until they start refusing grants from the giant chemical companies. Regards, Rex Harrill