Fast-Acting & Organic Cal/Mag Additive?

[B. Self Reliant]

I've recently moved from CA to the midwest, and in the process I've made the switch from synthetic hydroponic nutrients from to organic soilless mediums and teas. Hydro stuff is just too hard to get locally! Pretty much everything I needed to get started I learned from Burn1's "Organics for Beginners" thread & Ulysses's "The Virtues of Dolomite Lime" thread. Both are incredible resources.

Since I'm new at this, the medium I'm currently using wasn't mixed far enough in advance to reap the benefits of lime. In fact, I didn't even add any. Now, my plants are showing signs of severe magnesium deficiencies.

In the Dolomite Lime thread, it says:
"you are better off using a commercial Cal/Mag preparation like Botanicare Cal/Mag Plus 2-0-0 at 3-10 ml per gallon of water depending on plant size and strain."

Is Botanicare's CalMag Plus an organic product, or will it kill the beneficial organisms that I'm brewing my teas for? I don't want to scoop shit (literally) into a bucket and bubble it overnight only to kill everything with a bottled product. Is this Botanicare stuff legit to add to teas?

Can I just add a hydroponic Cal/Mag supplement without killing the beneficial critters in my teas? I already have a bunch on hand.

It would be nice if I could find a fast-acting product that would save my current test-run plants, but I'm more concerned about a long-term solution. Given the space I'm working with, mixing my soil 6 months in advance doesn't seem practical, so something that's fast acting would be ideal, even if I need to add it every watering as opposed to adding it once when I mix my soil.

Thanks in advance to anyone who's willing to help. . .

 

[stealthnstoned]

uhh im no pro but i remember reading in a thread just teh other day that cal mag is one of the only botanicare products that you shoulnd't use with organics... it does kill the microherd in ur soil. or it hurts its growth... You can get epsom salts and dissolve em in water and foliar feed for the fastest effect... I use LC#1 or #2 and #1 dry ntues... I remmeber when i only cooked for two weeks the plants in there did show mg def but after i had some sittin for like a month month and half.. they were good ( lime prob had more time to break down.. i donno just my guess ).. I dont think epsom salts are organic tho.. but it aint that bad.. its just bath salts.. haha

 

[rckymtnthuglife]

First of all not adding lime to your soil was a big mistake. Even if you didn't have time to let your soil cook it would still benefit your plants and you could have avoided the problems you are encountering. Basically we let our soils cook because it literally gets hot with the added nutes so hot it will burn roots. That said, you can get away with adding lime the very same day that you use your mix, just make sure that you mix it in thoroughly.

Now since you havent added lime my suggestion would be to use General Organics CaMg. Botanicare new cal mag plus "now with added iron" SUCKS. NOT organic. Contains EDTA. I personally wouldn't use Hydro nutes or a camg supplements if they are not organic you will kill your microlife or worse.

Hope this helps

 

[Tilt]

I had to use general organics ca-mag in my soil. It worked really good. I would recommend it to correct a cal mag problem.

 

[Tactical Farmer]

Earth Juice just came out with cal/mag product.

Elements Cal-N-Mag - 2-0-0-3:Cal-1:Mag

For use with Planting Mixes, Native Soils and as a Hydroponic Additive. Elements Cal“N”Mag is a Calcium and Magnesium formula developed for plants to help prevent and treat Calcium and Magnesium deficiencies. For use as a Calcium and Magnesium Booster or as part of Elements Total Solution. Indoor/Outdoor Plants.

* Im not sure exactly whats in it ?

Also not really diggin' the nitrogen level.

 

[B. Self Reliant]

Thanks for the replies folks. . . sounds like my best bet in the future is to add lime as far out as I can, even if it isn't a full 6 months out.

As far as the test batch goes, I'll probably go get some epsom salts and see what happens. It's only a few plants under a T5 as a test run, so if things go south I don't care too much at this point. They've already taught me a bunch of valuable lessons and allowed me to try out making teas, so if I lose an ounce or two of fluffy fluoro bud I'm not too concerned.

Probably will steer clear of the Botanicare Cal/Mag bottled product.

 

[hisser]

Molasses can act as a fast Cal/Mag supplement in both hydro and soil.

 

[B. Self Reliant]

Thanks for the reply Hisser. Just checked out your BS/S60 grow and it was a great read. I just started adding molasses to my teas yesterday, so after bubbling for 24 hours I fed it to my plants just now. Hopefully that will help them out a bit.

I have two packs of Sour 60 outdoors this year, but I kept a single female inside. . . I'm pretty sure she's beyond recovery. I also have about (15) AK-47 clones, each one in a 16 oz water bottle (Dr.BudGreenGenes style), & those are only a week or two into flowering, so I'm hoping they don't run into the same problem down the road. Maybe now that there's molasses in all my teas it won't be an issue. If it is I'll use the Epsom salts I guess.

 

[hisser]

You're welcome m8.. I hope you find it useful.

Sour 60 is great but a bit sensitive! about epsom salt it works best through foliar feeding but sadly that's bad to use in the flowering stage, so you're better off using molasses instead with normal watering too as it self its almost a fertilizer(including micro nutrients) about half a tsp max per gallon...

Are you pH'ing your water before feeding? it might be a lock-out instead of a deficiency...

Best of luck!

 

[big_daddy]

If you can get a hold of K-MAG and Oyster Shell Flour, you've got a complete, readily available Cal-mag supplement that also provides sulfur and potassium.

Oyster Shell Flour is calcium carbonate, and when added to the soil, allows the plant access to calcium throughout it's grow cycle. You can also mix it along with k-mag in a gallon of water and use it as a drench to get the minerals into the root zone more quickly.

I've used this protocol at the first signs of a deficiency, and have seen positive results in 2 days.

HTH

b_d

 

[VerdantGreen]

yep i would second molasses.

dolomite lime doesnt take ages to work - check the experiment i did in the dolomite lime sticky

and just a word on cooking soil - yes it is a good idea, but personally i have used freshly mixed soil a few times without any bad side-effects. certainly if your plants are sitting there, rootbound, desperate for a re-pot, i wouldnt let them suffer an extra 2 weeks while i cooked up some soil - i would just pot them into it without any hesitation providing i didnt think it was going to be too hot for them. couple of waterings with molasses at 1tsp/gallon will help get the biology kicking off.

VG

 

[vonforne]

As far as Ca and Mg........there are many products to add t the soil outside of the Base Mix in the Organic for Beginners thread.

EWC contains Mg, Dolomite lime, Glacial rock Powder, Azomite, Oyster shells (crushed), Algen Kalk (calcium derived from seaweed) and the list goes on.

But for fast acting and ready to use....Molasses. A good quality one from the Health food store is your best choice.

V

 

[B. Self Reliant]

big_daddy, VerdantGreen, & vonforne - Thanks for taking the time to help me out. I'm a hard & fast numbers guy, so hydroponics naturally appealed to me & I tok to it right away. I'm still getting the hang of all this touchy-feely organics stuff! VerdantGreen, I've read through all your threads and had seen your post in the Lime sticky, unfortunately it was after I mixed the soil and transplanted the cuttings. I knew it had to be mixed in as opposed to added as a top dressing, so at that point I was SOL. Your experiment was very encouraging though! Makes me think the organics thing might be a realistic option for me yet.

My original soil mix & teas have made use of EWC, so I thought I would be covered. Maybe not enough to thrive, but certainly enough to avoid problems, but oh well. . . now I know.

I'll be checking out K-Mag for sure. The oyster shell flour sounds legit, maybe I'll see if my local "organics" store (aka cannabis growers store in pitiful disguise) has it.

••• Just curious, if I did use a product such as a synthetic Cal/Mag supplement, would the nutrients from the molasses, bat guano, seabird guano & EWC still be delivered via my teas, or by killing the "microherd" does it render the whole teas useless? •••

 

[badbeans]

I grow a certain MJ strain that seems to have higher cal/mag requirments than LC's mix provides. My solution was to topdress my pots with 1 tbs. dolomite lime at the first sign of mag deficiency

Works for me...

 

[Mud Man]

yep i would second molasses.

couple of waterings with molasses at 1tsp/gallon will help get the biology kicking off.

VG

VG, VON and anyone else,,

'Why does Molasses aid in cal/mag def situations.'

does it contain cal/mag ?
or is it just to help the microherd and the plant in cal/mag uptake.

i am on a search and i am still looking, just thought i would ask,,,

 

[Tilt]

Thanks for the reply Hisser. Just checked out your BS/S60 grow and it was a great read. I just started adding molasses to my teas yesterday, so after bubbling for 24 hours I fed it to my plants just now. Hopefully that will help them out a bit.

I have two packs of Sour 60 outdoors this year, but I kept a single female inside. . . I'm pretty sure she's beyond recovery. I also have about (15) AK-47 clones, each one in a 16 oz water bottle (Dr.BudGreenGenes style), & those are only a week or two into flowering, so I'm hoping they don't run into the same problem down the road. Maybe now that there's molasses in all my teas it won't be an issue. If it is I'll use the Epsom salts I guess.

I use the dr. bud method too. The small pots do get deficient on K and mg easier it seems. I have to supplement with liquid ferts every few waterings

 

[VerdantGreen]

VG, VON and anyone else,,

'Why does Molasses aid in cal/mag def situations.'

does it contain cal/mag ?
or is it just to help the microherd and the plant in cal/mag uptake.

i am on a search and i am still looking, just thought i would ask,,,

blackstrap molasses contains a lot of calcium, some magnesium and a bit of iron amongst other things, as well as food for the microbes. make sure you get blackstrap because that has the most nutrition in it.

 

[CheifnBud2]

Everyone already said it, but some good ole Grandma's molasses from the grocery store will do just fine.

 

[the gnome]

I use grandma's but it has a bit of sodium, someone said it wasn't enough to hurt.
I'd rather use blackstrap but can't find it @ the grocery stores.
is blackstrap the brand name? or type of molasses??

 

[B. Self Reliant]

I've been adding Brer Rabbit brand unsulphured molasses. Is that good or no good?

I've never seen blackstrap molasses before, and like the gnome, don't know if it's a type or a brand. . .