MedUser420
Active member
If I use dolomite lime, do I have to ph adjust my water/nutes. I use d. lime @ 1 cup per cubic foot of soil mix.
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If I use dolomite lime, do I have to ph adjust my water/nutes?
- Thread starter MedUser420
- Start date
G
Guest
This grow I've decided to let the dolomite do its bit and not adjust any nutes,I'm 35 days into flower and all is perfect,my runoff is between 6.5 and 7 no matter what I pour through.I've used 2 teaspoons tiger bloom,thats close to 5 ph.I also used 5-1-1 fish emulsion for veg,thats a low ph too.I'm beginning to think except in the extremest of cases,the dolomite will take care of business.I'm not ready to tell anyone to do it though until I have a few grows under my belt without any ph adjustments
G
Guest
Damn 43 people have zero opinion on the matter,thats why at times I really do miss OG,there was a lot more interaction and experienced growers
R00KIE
Active member
Well I think it's mostly personal preference, but there are some factors to consider....
Everytime you water with a different ph the lime has to counter balance the ph.
This takes time, so you are potentially letting your plants suffer for a time while the lime adjusts the ph...
That also depends on what kind of soil your using.
If your in soiless, using chemical nutrients, you should be keeping a slightly acid environment.. So ph 5.8-6.2 or so...
If your using regular soil, example potting soil, you add lime to keep the ph around 7.
With those factors considered I would think that ph'ing you water, when you feed and give plain water will create a more stable environment...
I know for a fact that when I add nutes to my water, at any highish concentration the ph drops dramatically. After nutes I've seen it as low as 4.6 down from 7.2 as plain water.
So ph'ing would be beneficial...
Hope this helps, and hopefully I'm not totally off base...
I'm sure sproutco will see this and hop in...
Everytime you water with a different ph the lime has to counter balance the ph.
This takes time, so you are potentially letting your plants suffer for a time while the lime adjusts the ph...
That also depends on what kind of soil your using.
If your in soiless, using chemical nutrients, you should be keeping a slightly acid environment.. So ph 5.8-6.2 or so...
If your using regular soil, example potting soil, you add lime to keep the ph around 7.
With those factors considered I would think that ph'ing you water, when you feed and give plain water will create a more stable environment...
I know for a fact that when I add nutes to my water, at any highish concentration the ph drops dramatically. After nutes I've seen it as low as 4.6 down from 7.2 as plain water.
So ph'ing would be beneficial...
Hope this helps, and hopefully I'm not totally off base...
I'm sure sproutco will see this and hop in...
G
Guest
I hope not lol,non tutorials simple english will do,just jivin sprout.If the lime is not acting instantly when I water with a low ph solution how come my runoff is always near neutral?I'm definately not saying its a waste to balance your nute ph,not yet anyway but I'm leaning in that direction from what I'm experiencing.I'm sure adjusting nute ph is the best thing to do,I'm just wondering if its really necessary when you've already limed your soil
G
Guest
Its been over a week now I've been saying this and not one person has done it themselves to see if I'm fulloshit or not,this place kinda blows lol.I'm ina bitchin mood I guess lol
meduser180056
Active member
Skeletor- My Ph in my Pro-mix was dropping to the mid 5's sometimes low 5's towards the second half of flower. I think it was causing some nute lockout cuz I was having trouble keeping em green up to the final flush. So I followed your advice and added 2 tablespoons of D.lime per gallon of Pro-mix this time. Like you I've noticed that even if I water with water that has a PH of 5 the runoff still comes out at 7 or even higher!
Now I think 2 tablespoons was too much, but 1 should do the trick. I've actually had some runoff come out as high as 7.5 after watering in with PH 5 water. Next time I'm going to add only 1 tablespoon and c if it doesn't spike up as much. However, my plants haven't experienced any lockout due to the high PH so far. It does seem like the lime is instantly buffering the PH though so maybe PH adjusting the water isn't necessary.
Now I think 2 tablespoons was too much, but 1 should do the trick. I've actually had some runoff come out as high as 7.5 after watering in with PH 5 water. Next time I'm going to add only 1 tablespoon and c if it doesn't spike up as much. However, my plants haven't experienced any lockout due to the high PH so far. It does seem like the lime is instantly buffering the PH though so maybe PH adjusting the water isn't necessary.
CaptJamesTKirk
Active member
Skel - I'm behind ya man.
Right now I'm in the revert to the last level of sucess stage, and the only new changes are the one listed above - I can't bring myself to take any measure I am not totally sure of.
My belief is to keep the nutes and the water at about 6.0
I have never in my life tested run off. I seldom get more than a shotglass of runoff- most times nothing.
Ya have my attention, but not enought to risk cookin my babies, I dun did enough harm this year
I was in the 1 large TBLS per gallon of soil range with the new addition.
Right now I'm in the revert to the last level of sucess stage, and the only new changes are the one listed above - I can't bring myself to take any measure I am not totally sure of.
My belief is to keep the nutes and the water at about 6.0
I have never in my life tested run off. I seldom get more than a shotglass of runoff- most times nothing.
Ya have my attention, but not enought to risk cookin my babies, I dun did enough harm this year
I was in the 1 large TBLS per gallon of soil range with the new addition.
Samples of different promixes with and without added dolomite.
All samples are sealed in tupperware containers.
This is without the addition of nutes.
My tap is ~8 pH.
On the chart I added 1/16 tsp dolomite first to my 4 tbsps of promix, then after 7 days I added another 1/16 tsp to get it to 1/8 tsp total thats why the graph has some gaps in it.
I calculated that 1/16 tsp of dolomite to 4 Tbsps of soil(les) medium approximated 1 tbsp dolomite to 1 gallon soil(les) medium. It's a close approximation because 1/16 tsp =0.3 ml and .23 ml dolomite to 4 TBS soil(les) medium would equal 1 TBS dolomite/1 gallon soil(les) medium.
Work in progress.
All samples are sealed in tupperware containers.
This is without the addition of nutes.
My tap is ~8 pH.
On the chart I added 1/16 tsp dolomite first to my 4 tbsps of promix, then after 7 days I added another 1/16 tsp to get it to 1/8 tsp total thats why the graph has some gaps in it.
I calculated that 1/16 tsp of dolomite to 4 Tbsps of soil(les) medium approximated 1 tbsp dolomite to 1 gallon soil(les) medium. It's a close approximation because 1/16 tsp =0.3 ml and .23 ml dolomite to 4 TBS soil(les) medium would equal 1 TBS dolomite/1 gallon soil(les) medium.
Work in progress.
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Dolimite lime
Dolimite lime
Hi all ! Never used lime before, but got tied of weird fried leaf in flowering...
to much ferts in flower cycle, or lockout, ph out of balance...etc...etc...
So 2 level measured tbs of lime per gal of soil...seems to be OK !!!
AND PLEASE DO yourself a favor and PH everything to 6.0 the sweet spot of
PH for your babies....;>) (5.8----6.2), so 6.0 is in the middle.... can't go wrong in the middle...LOL...
Mix Ocean Forest 50% & SuperSoil 50% + dry ferts
Check these baby's out with the lime added to the soil::::
Peace !!
Dolimite lime
Hi all ! Never used lime before, but got tied of weird fried leaf in flowering...
to much ferts in flower cycle, or lockout, ph out of balance...etc...etc...
So 2 level measured tbs of lime per gal of soil...seems to be OK !!!
AND PLEASE DO yourself a favor and PH everything to 6.0 the sweet spot of
PH for your babies....;>) (5.8----6.2), so 6.0 is in the middle.... can't go wrong in the middle...LOL...
Mix Ocean Forest 50% & SuperSoil 50% + dry ferts
Check these baby's out with the lime added to the soil::::
Peace !!
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If the ph does not get lower using very acidic water, you might consider a little sulfur.meduser180056 said:
Pure sulfur can reduce your ph. .75 pounds per yard of soil. (27 cubic feet) 180 teaspoons in a pound. .75 x 180 = 135 teaspoons needed per yard. 1/27 x 135 tsp = 5 teaspoons per cubic foot of soil. .15 x 5 = 3/4 teaspoon per gallon pot. Sprinkle evenly on and water in.
You should use care not to use too much. Try 1/2 rate and see what ph you get after a week or so/several waterings. Then apply more as needed.
You can find sulfur at garden centers. Just call around.
I put Dolomite Lime in my mix and then never check the pH again.
CaptJamesTKirk
Active member
pieceofmyheart said:
You and Skelator.
Dangerous statment. One that - while it works for you and your enviorment, could reek havok on someone elses
Due to previous tramatic experiences with low PH and sudden golden krinkly crispy tint in the grow - I am scared shitless to revisit that stage in life.
As I ponder - I believe it was prior to switching over to Foxfarms soil and I know I had not added Dolomite, but,,, even so, the lesson learned was nothing below about 6.0-5.9 - goes into the grow room. I first started adding D/L about a month ago.
I'll get the PH meter out today and get it calibrated - I need to do a tune up here anyway.
So far, if I keep the ingoing PH at around 6.0 throuought the cycles - I've been pretty happy with the result
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G
Guest
I always use dolom,ite but I still keep up with my ph,its too important.I stopped using 2 tbls and switched to 1 tbls per gallon soil too,especially when I learned the gallon (NSI classic 300) that I use to measure is closer to 3/4 of a gallon than a full gallon.The classic 600 which re I use to flower clones are not really 2 gal but a little over a gallon and a half.The classic 1200 is exactly 3 gallon its the only one that comes out even
Apparently mine is not a popular opinion, not to be posted anyway I receive many pms from way more experienced growers than I that grow very similar to the way I grow. It just isn't the "popular" thing I guess, you would be surprised how many growers don't mess with their plants very much.
I guess it depends on your soil and nutes and all the things one might add to their growing herb. I add precious little to mine, therefore the pH isnt as affected as those who have many different additives.
Seems that mine just kinda do the same thing always. But I added somehing to help root growth to this grow, given to me by a friend, and my plants look worse than they ever have. I'll never do that again.
KISS
I guess it depends on your soil and nutes and all the things one might add to their growing herb. I add precious little to mine, therefore the pH isnt as affected as those who have many different additives.
Seems that mine just kinda do the same thing always. But I added somehing to help root growth to this grow, given to me by a friend, and my plants look worse than they ever have. I'll never do that again.
KISS
pieceofmyheart said:
Even if you don't add ANY addatives, there are some brands of soil(les) mixes like promix that simply do not add enough dolomite lime to their mix, making it necessary for us to add additional lime. Otherwise the pH is just too low. If you see my chart and compare it with premeire horticulture's own published pH's of their mixes you'll see that none are suitable to use right out of the bag. They must be amended with more lime, or the acidic nature of nutes will cause the pH to be too low by the time you're into flower.
I do add dolomite lime to my soiless mix, but I dont pH up and down and all that.
Imo it doesnt matter what you give or do to your medium. If you dont know what your ph is at how do you expect to properly diagnose problems when they happen? In reality theres a million ways to grow poorly and still get some results, and on the flip side theres a handful of methods to grow well with better results.
As for an answer to the original question, flat-out NO. Doesnt matter how well you think your applying lime theres not a growbook in the world that recommends you to feed your plants outside its recommended ph levels and theres no way your going to have an adjusted ph using normal ferts without having a meter. Soil may be more forgiving but would anyone try and wing it doing hydro?
p.s. Im no horticultural major or anything but adding sulfer to limed soils wont do anything regarding the lowering of the ph when there isnt a strong enough acid to breakdown the calcium carbonate.
Adding elemental sulfur might work well in farming applications but considering its lowered secondary use for marijuana plants would make any application to reduce medium ph complete overkill for the average potted houseplant.
As for an answer to the original question, flat-out NO. Doesnt matter how well you think your applying lime theres not a growbook in the world that recommends you to feed your plants outside its recommended ph levels and theres no way your going to have an adjusted ph using normal ferts without having a meter. Soil may be more forgiving but would anyone try and wing it doing hydro?
p.s. Im no horticultural major or anything but adding sulfer to limed soils wont do anything regarding the lowering of the ph when there isnt a strong enough acid to breakdown the calcium carbonate.
Adding elemental sulfur might work well in farming applications but considering its lowered secondary use for marijuana plants would make any application to reduce medium ph complete overkill for the average potted houseplant.
meduser180056
Active member
I agree with you there Verite. I still think people should PH their water even if they used lime. It just seems safer.
