can i count on dolomite lime for cal and mg?

[captinknots]

i mixed peat and perlite 1:1 and added 2tbls per gal of dolomite lime to raise the ph of the peat. the general organics line has a cal mg suppliment and i want to know if i should use it or leave it out.

i use the soil immediately and heard dolomite lime can take months to make the cal and mg available for uptake.
is that true?

 

[the gnome]

availability depends on screen mesh size, how fine its ground.
the finer it is the faster it will act.
lime can take months if its pelletized.

I use powdered and have used it immediately with no probs with ph, or calmag issues

 

[captinknots]

its powdered. so i shouldnt add the cal mg supplements to my regiment?

 

[the gnome]

what kind of calmag supplements are you talking about?
I would try it and if you have calmag issues add liquid cal-mag.
imo if your adding 2 tbs dolo per gallon of soil you should be good imo, plus if your using liquid nutes they will probably also or should have the micro's in it that will reinforce c+m.

i have a bottle of cal-mag and haven't needed to use it when adding lime @ 2tbs per gal.
of course differing strains suck up fertz more than others.

 

[captinknots]

right on. id rather start without using any liquid calmg. i can recognize a deficiency easier than an overdose. im using general organics line of bottled nutes, bio thrive and the like. also im doing a batch with chems using technafloras bc line. it has magical that ill leave out unless i see a problem. thanks for the input bro!

 

[grapeman]

Dolomite Lime will add a bit of cal & mag. I use it mostly to keep my soil from becoming too acidic. It's a bonus that it also provides some cal/mag to the plant.

I always treat with light foliar sprays of epsom salts from veg thru 3 weeks of flower. I also add some gypsum (very light amounts) in my soil mix. CC has an interesting mix of oyster shells, dolomite lime, gypsum and other things he uses for his calcium needs. Captian Cheesy swears by it. I mean to try it someday.

 

[captinknots]

do you have a heavily amended soil? mine is just peat and perlite. I use the dolomite just for the buffering properties. Id like to just bottle feed everything the plant needs,including cal and mg, its just easier for me if something isnt right. Im seriously thinking about switching to coco. if im not mistaken its got the proper ph without adding shit to it. or it at least doesnt effect to ph of your nutes when added. either way, that sounds like it would work way better for me. I still have a bail of peat to use up but ill try coco next and not worry about dolomite lime, ph, or cal and mg. that way just my nute solution needs to be proper. i like the idea of that.

 

[the gnome]

I'm using FF OF, I have ammended some of it with blood-bone-kelp meals
its a rich mix. regardless I always add lime, my ph always drops through the grow especially if you using chem fertz.

if you have a good organic soil ph isn't much of an issue, haven't done it personally
but the organic guys swear by it.

 

[grapeman]

I use LC#2 soil with dry nutes (blood, bone kelp meal etc.). I also add K-Mag to my soil. K-Mag is available in many nurseries or on line in the raw form. It takes time to break down. Some guys throw a bit in water and allow it to go into solution over several days. I mix it in my soil. I use the raw product called Sul-Po-Mag. post your question over in the "organics for beginners" thread, you'll get more helpful answers from more experienced growers. That's where we hang out.

 

[captinknots]

i just wanted to know if the dolomite lime made the cal and mg available immediatly or if it had to "cook".....

sounds like its good to go from the get go....

that being the case, i dont want to use my bc line of nutes with this soil mix. the boost and grow (and bloom) all have significant cal and mg in them. i dont want to add whats already in the soil....

besides, ive got plenty of guano to use....

 

[the gnome]

i just wanted to know if the dolomite lime made the cal and mg available immediatly or if it had to "cook".........

re-read post #2

 

[captinknots]

re-read post #2

no yeah i got it! hence my decision to nix the bc nutes. much appreciated!

 

[SupraSPL]

Are you using R/O water? If so the lime will not add enough calmag on its own. Blackstrap molasses can contribute calmag also but still would not be enough (at 1ml/liter) especially if you are using a strong light density.

 

[captinknots]

I am using RO water. how much ca and mg is there @ 2Tbs/gal of soil?

 

[SupraSPL]

The lime will release a few ppm of calmag everytime it gets exposed to liquid with a pH less than ~7.6. I am working on a project soaking pulverized lime in R/O water to see how much ppm it can dissolve. It is easy to lower the pH of the R/O water by exhaling into the jug and shaking it up for a few seconds. Once the ph rises and stabilizes ~7.2-7.6 it basically stops dissolving the lime.

So far I can go from 3ppm R/O up to ~150 ppm in about 3 days, exhaling and shaking once or twice a day. I am trying to avoid using calmag plus so hopefully the 150ppm + molasses can get the job done. I have no idea why I am doing this just curiosity I guess.

 

[captinknots]

so your saying when i feed with mexican guano and it has a ph of 8 or 9, the cal mg will not get released? even tho the lime itself will bring down the ph to under 7?

 

[SupraSPL]

that is a good question I have not tried to dissolve it using a high pH. you said you are using a peat based mix which also helps bring the ph below 7 along with the lime, so maybe not as much calmag would be released during flowering. what is the pH of the runoff? does the guano have a strong buffer or is it the pH easily adjusted?

my understanding of the chemistry that is going on is weak, just experimenting for now.

 

[captinknots]

im not checking ph. supposed to be the ease of organics. lime is supposed to take care of that along with the Ca and Mg.... Im not having any issues, just trying not to overdo things...or under do for that matter. im keeping my eyes peeled for any issues , just being precautious about what i add and why im adding it.

 

[the gnome]

im not checking ph. supposed to be the ease of organics.

if your into the organic side of soil you should be over in the
"Organic Soil" section in the growers forum.
lots of great info specializing more along the lines of what you wanting to do