Dolomite, Dolomite Lime, Lime... What's The Deal?

[darwinsbulldog]

hey all, i was at the hardware store the other day and saw a whole heap of different dolomite/lime combinations, and was wondering what does what?? i'm trying to find a decent substance to put in with my soil mix to bring the pH down a little, i'm guessing i need to go with Lime? but then again someone told me dolomite / dolomite lime may help buffer the pH. anyway just wanting your 2c. cheers

darwin

EDIT:

ok so thinking about the soil mix i'm going to make up tomorrow. i read up on the organic soil mix and am going to go with the following. (ps i'll edit this into the top comment).

LC’s Soiless Mix #1:
5 parts Canadian Spaghnam Peat or Coir or Pro-Moss
3 parts perlite
2 parts wormcastings or mushroom compost or home made compost
Powdered (NOT PELLETIZED) dolomite lime @ 2 tablespoons per gallon or 1 cup per cubic foot of the soiless mix.
...Wal-Mart now sells worm castings.

i've a question regarding the difference between dolomite and dolomite lime, i've a packet of dolomite in front of me and it says "naturally sourced, raises soil pH, slow release Ca and Mg, earthworm friendly" so what's the diff between this stuff and dolomite lime (or is it the same thing?) and should i be going with one over the other? cheers

 

[twrex]

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=123087

oughtta do ya

 

[wingman580]

Dolomite is Lime and very very beneficial when used correctly.

 

[floater]

a handful of dolomite lime (pulverized/powder- same thing= white) every couple gallons of soil is awesome. great buffer, works to keep pH from going high or low- over a long period of time.

it's hard to overdue pulverized dolomitic lime- use good judgement. couple handfulls per 5gal bucket is fine. has plenty of Ca and Mg if i recall. GREAT STUFF.

 

[grapeman]

I don't know if addition of dolomite lime will bring your soil ph down. Depends on your soil. dolomite will buffer ph and is itself around ph7 if i remember correctly. Used in conjunction with a peat based soil (lower ph) it will tend to buffer your ph. Remember to add humates (usually EWC) in a well balanced soil.

The link above will serve you well along with the "organics for beginners" thread as there you will find the proper ratios right on the first post.

I use 1.25 cups in about 1.25cf of soil along with other amendments.

 

[darwinsbulldog]

hey grapeman, cheers for that, what're humates sorry? yeah i've got the organics for beginners bookmarked i'll have to go over it when mixing up the next batch of soil. cheers for your help too guys!

darwin

 

[HeD333]

Darwin-
The important part to note with dolomitic lime is that you want PULVERIZED not PELLETIZED. Pulverized is tried and true, though some users are using pelletized with success. If you're looking at a bag of "lime" chances are it isn't dolomitic- You can check by looking at the cal/mag ratio, but you're safer looking for something labeled as DOLOMITIC and PULVERIZED.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Lime raises, not lowers pH. IMO, peat would be a good ingredient to lower your mix. I've had peat-based potting mix measure as low as 5 and would be good as-is for acidic plants like Azaleas. In this scenario, I usually add a tablespoon of pulverized (or manually crushed pellet) lime per gallon of "hot" mix and runoff tests usually measure ~6.5.

Lime isn't necessarily fast-acting unless you use hydrated (be careful not to over apply any lime, especially hydrated.) I usually prepare a mix 6 to 8 weeks before use by moistening and periodically turning the limed mix for consistency. Less hot spots this way.

If you don't have the time to prepare in advance, make sure to mix well. Runoff tests won't necessarily coincide with the mean "grow" pH but you'll be better off than no lime if soil is too hot for mj.

EDIT: didn't see the latest posts. Good point about humic-acid (humates), even humus, (which I think is a humate by-product) help nute absorption w/o having to zero-in on 6.5 to 6.8 with lime alone.

 

[twrex]

I'm sorry I didn't read the whole original post. Dolomite wouldn't help you for a basic soil. If you need to acidify your soil you might want to try reading up on amending sulfur, I don't have any links handy but I know it is used for that.

 

[darwinsbulldog]

cheers guys!

 

[Penguin59]

Yeh seems like you should combine equal parts lime and peat moss to cancel each other out and buffer the ph.

 

[darwinsbulldog]

I'm sorry I didn't read the whole original post. Dolomite wouldn't help you for a basic soil. If you need to acidify your soil you might want to try reading up on amending sulfur, I don't have any links handy but I know it is used for that.

cheers mate, i use iron sulphate, added a little into the original mix but clearly it wasn't enough. then put some on the surface and watered it in but it was way too strong and some of the plants carcked it... well are on their way out, we'll see how they go, i flushed the shit out of it so they should be ok but mmm.

what's weird is i'd originally put the clones i took into the same soil mix that the seedlings i grew up were in, the clones are thriving whereas the seedlings had nute lock out/def issues... i'm so over having soil pH issues, i need to find a decent mix that friggen works a treat each time and then stick to it.

 

[The Phoenix]

I have found that good quailty pelletized Dolomite Lime works quite well almost immediately when added in your organic soil mix. You can put the pelletized lime in a cheap coffee grinder and add a couple tablespoons of it to a gallon of water and apply it as a tea if it's not already in your soil. I have noticed plants respond within 2 days of application this way.

Best to add it to your organic soil before the plants go in the pots though. If you have ever used Ironite pellets on your lawn, you'll know that if a pellet gets on the concrete it will leave a rust spot that spreads out from the pellet. Pelletized Dolomote Lime functions much the same way. The release is slow and controlled and spreads throughout the soil with every watering. Additional Lime is manditory in my organic soil.

 

[darwinsbulldog]

ok so thinking about the soil mix i'm going to make up tomorrow. i read up on the organic soil mix and am going to go with the following. (ps i'll edit this into the top comment).

LC’s Soiless Mix #1:
5 parts Canadian Spaghnam Peat or Coir or Pro-Moss
3 parts perlite
2 parts wormcastings or mushroom compost or home made compost
Powdered (NOT PELLETIZED) dolomite lime @ 2 tablespoons per gallon or 1 cup per cubic foot of the soiless mix.
...Wal-Mart now sells worm castings.

i've a question regarding the difference between dolomite and dolomite lime, i've a packet of dolomite in front of me and it says "naturally sourced, raises soil pH, slow release Ca and Mg, earthworm friendly" so what's the diff between this stuff and dolomite lime and should i be going with one over the other? cheers

 

[intotheunknown]

I have found that good quailty pelletized Dolomite Lime works quite well almost immediately when added in your organic soil mix. You can put the pelletized lime in a cheap coffee grinder and add a couple tablespoons of it to a gallon of water and apply it as a tea if it's not already in your soil. I have noticed plants respond within 2 days of application this way.

Best to add it to your organic soil before the plants go in the pots though. If you have ever used Ironite pellets on your lawn, you'll know that if a pellet gets on the concrete it will leave a rust spot that spreads out from the pellet. Pelletized Dolomote Lime functions much the same way. The release is slow and controlled and spreads throughout the soil with every watering. Additional Lime is manditory in my organic soil.

man youre going to be there all week long trying to grind up little ROCKS in a coffee grinder... remember dolomite lime is a stone.
pelletized dolomite lime is a SUPER slow release, and i do not recommend using it, unless you want to go back to having PH issues... it needs to be POWDERED DOLOMITE LIME in order for it to release fast enough and in order to buffer ph correctly.
for example, if i go just a little longer than i should without watering, ill start to get a cal/mag deficiency, possible due to lockout even pretty quick.
use this- "sunleaves soil sweetener" = 100% POWDERED dolomite lime.
dolomite lime is a soil sweetener, therefor it RAISES the ph, making it more alkaline, not acidic. but adding more and more dolomite lime will not raise the PH above a 7, so you really have to be careful how much youre adding.

 

[intotheunknown]

ok so thinking about the soil mix i'm going to make up tomorrow. i read up on the organic soil mix and am going to go with the following. (ps i'll edit this into the top comment).

LC’s Soiless Mix #1:
5 parts Canadian Spaghnam Peat or Coir or Pro-Moss
3 parts perlite
2 parts wormcastings or mushroom compost or home made compost
Powdered (NOT PELLETIZED) dolomite lime @ 2 tablespoons per gallon or 1 cup per cubic foot of the soiless mix.
...Wal-Mart now sells worm castings.

i've a question regarding the difference between dolomite and dolomite lime, i've a packet of dolomite in front of me and it says "naturally sourced, raises soil pH, slow release Ca and Mg, earthworm friendly" so what's the diff between this stuff and dolomite lime and should i be going with one over the other? cheers

good choice for a soil mix, i highly recommend using it. what ferts do you plan on using with this mix?
if it doesnt say "dolomite lime" i wouldnt use it.
try finding what i recommended to use. i see it everywhere, so it should not be too difficult to find. isnt very expensive either.

 

[K.J]

http://www.amazon.com/Sunleaves-Soi...1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1276098634&sr=8-1

 

[grapeman]

Yeh seems like you should combine equal parts lime and peat moss to cancel each other out and buffer the ph.

No. do not combine equal parts peat/dolomite. Combine the ratios as set forth in the beginners thread.

I really do sugest using one of the soil mixes on the beginners thread and you'll learn through the grow and make changes as you grow over and over again. If done properly, you can reclaim the soil after a grow and re-use it after adding a few amendments and allowing it to rest again in a bin for several weeks or so.

Humates will be in your soil when your add ewc to your mix and let it sweeten for the appropriate time period (by keeping it moist in a bin or whatever and turning it several times a week to allow air into the soil mix). You can also add some humic acid to your mix by reading the thread, but imo, the addition of humic acid is no substitution for ewc breaking down over time and forming humates in the soil.

 

[intotheunknown]

No. do not combine equal parts peat/dolomite. Combine the ratios as set forth in the beginners thread.

I really do sugest using one of the soil mixes on the beginners thread and you'll learn through the grow and make changes as you grow over and over again. If done properly, you can reclaim the soil after a grow and re-use it after adding a few amendments and allowing it to rest again in a bin for several weeks or so.

Humates will be in your soil when your add ewc to your mix and let it sweeten for the appropriate time period (by keeping it moist in a bin or whatever and turning it several times a week to allow air into the soil mix). You can also add some humic acid to your mix by reading the thread, but imo, the addition of humic acid is no substitution for ewc breaking down over time and forming humates in the soil.

yes yes very well said man

 

[intotheunknown]

http://www.amazon.com/Sunleaves-Soi...1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1276098634&sr=8-1

there we go, probably should have added that. thanks for the link KJ