Q regarding dolo lime in organix 4 beginners mix

[Papulz]

howdy everyone,

i know Promix isn't organic however im using the organics for beginners soilless recipe #2 with 80% hp pro and 20% castings.

planning on using feeding recipe # 1, bone blood and kelp.

the mix calls for 1 cup of lime per cubic foot of soil, or in my pots, about 20 cups per.

Should i use as the recipe calls for? or does the use of the promix call for some adjustment? i know promix's ph is higher than that of straight peat.

thanks in advance.

 

[guest2012y]

1 cup of powdered dolomite lime per cubic foot of peat mix.

I go with this:
1 part dolomite
1 part gypsum
2 parts oyster shell
Use at 1 cup per cubic foot of peat mix..

 

[vonforne]

As in the famous words of Burn1 himself............

2 TBS dolomite lime per gallon of soil!

V

 

[guest2012y]

As in the famous words of Burn1 himself............

2 TBS dolomite lime per gallon of soil!

V

Yep..that works.

 

[Scrappy4]

I've been running dolomite lime at 1 to 1.5 cups per 3.8 cf bale of pro mix. The pro mix already has lime, actually two kinds of lime in it. When i added the recommended amount it did well for one run, the next run the ph went and stayed high. Since i have cut the lime additions my ph has been in the 6.5ish range and the grows have been hunky dory. It does start out low, around 5.5-6 and that can be scary, but it seems to come around just fine after some teas and such. The more I add homemade compost (6.5ph) the more it seems stable. I now believe probably due to the long breakdown time for dolomite lime, it takes several grows for full effect and you can get by with much less, as long as you still have cal and mag covered. You will notice the recipes for peat and pro mix are the same but most straight peats do not have lime added........scrappy

(The recipe i used called for 3 cups per 3.8cf bale)

 

[mad librettist]

scrap, if you're gonna use pH for organics, you have to do the test for buffering capacity, not just the pH. Your pH is only relevant in the context of buffering capacity.

It involves putting soil in water, measuring, then putting soil in a very strong chemical and seeing what the difference is.

A 5.5 pH that has a strong buffering capacity is gonna be hard to overcome, but if the buffering capacity is low, it's easy for the plant to decide the pH.

 

[guest2012y]

I've been running dolomite lime at 1 to 1.5 cups per 3.8 cf bale of pro mix. The pro mix already has lime, actually two kinds of lime in it. When i added the recommended amount it did well for one run, the next run the ph went and stayed high. Since i have cut the lime additions my ph has been in the 6.5ish range and the grows have been hunky dory. It does start out low, around 5.5-6 and that can be scary, but it seems to come around just fine after some teas and such. The more I add homemade compost (6.5ph) the more it seems stable. I now believe probably due to the long breakdown time for dolomite lime, it takes several grows for full effect and you can get by with much less, as long as you still have cal and mag covered. You will notice the recipes for peat and pro mix are the same but most straight peats do not have lime added........scrappy

(The recipe i used called for 3 cups per 3.8cf bale)

I believe that's the problem with dolomite. It only works when it's wet..and very rare that the ph goes over 7.0. The magnesium is bonded to the calcium so how it actually works is unknown to me.....whereas oyster shell's calcium is immediately available.
I think I like dolomites long term breakdown rate.

I've learned that not all bagged peat based mixes contain enough liming agents and are different from one bag to the next so I can't really trust anything that isn't built by myself anymore. It's best to add the lime mix and have the properly built soil using compost and EWC. Put a lot of humic,fungal,and microbial life containing material in there and you won't have ph issues.

 

[Scrappy4]

I believe that's the problem with dolomite. It only works when it's wet..and very rare that the ph goes over 7.0. The magnesium is bonded to the calcium so how it actually works is unknown to me.....whereas oyster shell's calcium is immediately available.
I think I like dolomites long term breakdown rate.

I've learned that not all bagged peat based mixes contain enough liming agents and are different from one bag to the next so I can't really trust anything that isn't built by myself anymore. It's best to add the lime mix and have the properly built soil using compost and EWC. Put a lot of humic,fungal,and microbial life containing material in there and you won't have ph issues.

It's taken me a while, and I'm still not there, but the humic, fungal, microbe comments are spot on capt. As the lime comments seem to be as well.....scrappy. (and I'm not taking the bait ml)

 

[mad librettist]

no bait.

not saying pH doesn't matter.

Just saying the Luebkes are on to something.

Saying runoff matters not, but putting a sample in water and testing can tell you something. Knowing if polysaccharides are likely to do the trick is what you are after though.

 

[Papulz]

thx for the replies everyone.

so the 37 yards of mix now stands at about
4 parts promix hp
1 part ewc

4 bags blood
4 bags kelp
7 bags steamed bone
4 bags gypsum
7 bags oyster shell

do you think the amendments are at an appropriate level? i had a helluva time trying to figure how many cups in a bag of product X. turns out dolo lime has around 65-70 cups per 50# bag.


maybe more bone? i dunno anymore.

 

[BurnOne]

Papulz-
You started off with a good idea. Then you got enough opinions on here to screw it up.
First, ProMix has soap (plain old soap) in it along with a small shot of fertilizer. Both will be gone after a few waterings. That's why it's not organic.
Blood and bone come from slaughterhouses. Ever seen what they feed commercial livestock? It aint organic.
Here's my two cents...
Start with a tried and true recipe. Get a few grows with it under your belt. THEN mix it up with other amendments. If you have problems, you'll have a plan to come back to.
I've used that recipe hundreds of times. I tried all the other stuff all over these forums. Some of them caused problems but none of them gave me any improvement.
This aint rocket surgery. Find a good recipe and use as directed. Stick to the plan.
Good luck with your grow.
Burn1

 

[Papulz]

many thanks for stoppin in and lending your hand burnone.

plants are largely lookin very happy.. least that was about a week ago last i checked.