dolomite lime question

[captinknots]

im using a tbls of dlime per gal of soil. i read that the cal and mg are not available to the plant for months and that its only real purpose would be to regulate or buffer ph.(unless cooked for several months before hand) Is this true to your guys experience?

my plants dont look so happy and i think its a cal issue. they are young like two weeks and yellowing through out.

conditions are optimal. its blackberry kush from clone.

i fed with roots organic grow and bloom and trinity using the recommend dose. they are about 12 inches and im was trying to flower em in a few days but not till they green up some and put on a stack or two. they have grown a bit since i got them two weeks ago but they have never looked real happy.

 

[igrowone]

i use the exact same amount, 1 tbsp per gallon of soil, gives great grows
but it does release slowly, which isn't all bad
not sure what you have going on, i'll ask the mandatory PH question, though i'm guessing you've measured that already

 

[captinknots]

whats up ig?

isnt that the deal with dlime? its supposed to buffer ph?

ive still been ph ing the water even when i nute them. 6.5

 

[igrowone]

whats up ig?

isnt that the deal with dlime? its supposed to buffer ph?

ive still been ph ing the water even when i nute them. 6.5

it should keep the ph in line, but you never know, maybe you got a strange situation
it's pretty severe yellowing, looks like nutrients aren't getting to the plant like they should
are you using water from your tap? bad water would the next guess on my list

 

[Weird Jimmy]

I use about the same lime ratio and only for a ph buffer. I definitely use a cal mag supplement on top of my tea feedings. I'd bet some sort of cal mag would green them up in no time.

 

[captinknots]

ya im using tap. i have a filter tho. ive heard the water around here is fine but it looks like ill have to switch back and retry the filtered water and see if it makes a dif. good shot.

 

[captinknots]

I use about the same lime ratio and only for a ph buffer. I definitely use a cal mag supplement on top of my tea feedings. I'd bet some sort of cal mag would green them up in no time.

no doubt? me too i just didnt want to over do it with the dlime + cal mg. half dose you think?

 

[Dorje113]

whats up ig?

isnt that the deal with dlime? its supposed to buffer ph?

ive still been ph ing the water even when i nute them. 6.5

The lime is your buffer, if you add pH up you will increase the overall alkalinity of your soil and your pH will go up over 7. Even though the pH of your nute solution is 6.5.... Some nutes I use take the water down under 5, it's not a problem, don't try to correct for it.

The other key component to get good pH buffering is peat moss, humic acid in the moss buffers toward 5.5 and with lime it will balance out to 6.7.

Also, get a soil test kit (rapidtest, sentry, etc...), available at any garden store, it will give you a rough idea of NPK and pH.

We'd also need to know what soil mix you are using, but I'd guess you may have raised your pH past 7 by adding lime along with ph up, and if you used a potting mix, they already contain pH buffers so you might have given them a triple dose of alkaline materials.... but a soil test kit is going to be the only way to be sure.

 

[captinknots]

its dr earths. Ingredients:

Screened Forest Humus

Fir Bark Fines

Canadian Sphagnum peat Moss

Perlite

 

[Weird Jimmy]

no doubt? me too i just didnt want to over do it with the dlime + cal mg. half dose you think?

I use full doses all the time. Most strains love both cal and mag. I also use black strap molasses which is a really good source of mag and also pretty good for cal....

although, I would definitely switch your water though. RO is the only way to go..

 

[captinknots]

the bag also says it contains kelp,chicken manure,bat guano,and earthworm castings. i emailed them to find out for sure. i add a little perlite and dlime. been just using ph'd water for the past 10 days. just fed 5 days ago and have not seen any improvements.

 

[captinknots]

I use full doses all the time. Most strains love both cal and mag. I also use black strap molasses which is a really good source of mag and also pretty good for cal....

although, I would definitely switch your water though. RO is the only way to go..

how often? just when they need or what?

I appreciate your input and the rest of you as well!

 

[The Phoenix]

I use Dolomite Lime pellets, and I have heard it said not to use them. But from experience, it works just fine, and fast enough to do the job. The lime pellets start releasing their good stuff almost immediately, so I add it automatically to each new pot.

I have had occasions where some plants were showing the symptoms, and I grind up the pellets and add them to water at a rate of 2 tbls per gallon, and feed the plants this tea. I see the plants respond within 2-3 days after the treatment.

So no, you dont have to cook it in the soil for a while to reap the benefits if the lime. Watch your PH and keep between 6-6.5 and all SHOULD be ok in organic soil.

 

[captinknots]

one other thing man, are you using a organic cal mg or like botanicare cal mg + or something similar? Wanting to know the effects a chem cal mg supplement would have on bio culture in teas and in soil?

 

[Weird Jimmy]

how often? just when they need or what?

I appreciate your input and the rest of you as well!

You can give it to them once a week if you wanted. I usually feed it about that or every two weeks or so. Especially in veg man. As long as the ph is right, they'll use it all.

 

[captinknots]

would you say that looks like the issue in those pics?

 

[Weird Jimmy]

I'm completely organic other than the cal/mag supplement, which I use mainly in veg and like the second week of flower. I don't see any adverse effects from it at all. Just don't mix that shit directly with any teas or other nute products; water with it separately...

 

[Weird Jimmy]

it doesn't look exactly like a magnesium deficiency, but it could very well be related indirectly to it. How old are they exactly? Have you ever used a mag supplement before?

 

[captinknots]

right on man. after the second week of flower, do they just require less or do they start getting it from the dlime?

 

[pearlemae]

Dolomite lime is a slow release mineral, it takes time to buffer your soil with it. I use prilled lime it is pelletized'', and is released faster than ground lime. As for pellet vrs ground, lime is lime. Lime, besides buffering your ph, actually aids the plant in the up take of nutes. A lawn for instance has max usage of nitrogen at ph of 7 or as close as you can get. So lime does more than buffer, but takes a couple weeks to do so.