If I use dolomite lime, do I have to ph adjust my water/nutes?

[Guest]

Just got back from my supply house and posed the question to the owners who have a ton of knowledge on the subject.They did tell me when dolomite lime is used balancing nute ph is unnecessary except in the extemest of cases.If you check your runoff and its near neutral you are definately OK.Anyone that feels unsure should definately balance their nute PH to be sure,especially if you just have a few plants.This is geared for p[eople who already have a pretty full day everyday taking care of things.I was thinking about other plants where the soil ph is very important like coffee and did a little reading on the plantations.They lime their soil and take intermittent samples,but what goes in the ground like rainwater or fertilizers are not PH'd at all,the lime is supposed to take care of it.Ph is probably more important in growing coffee than growing erb too.

 

[sproutco]

Are we debating 10 seconds?

Are we debating 10 seconds?

It only takes like 10 seconds to ph adjust your fert water. First time you mix the fert water at a certain strength, it takes many tries of adding acids or bases to get the water in range. But using the same nute strength and same water, you should not have to remeasure. Then its just a case of adding some of your ph adjustor out of your jug. (of course you made a stock in a gallon jug using the directions in my signature..."how to make your own ph up and down" )

 

[stretchpuppy]

This current grow I added lime to my Promix (1 tbsp/gal) and have stopped checking pH. I did the initial test with my 1 gal of feed to see where pH lands at, and then figured out I needed 1ml of UP to get it right around 6 as Sprotco mentions.

Each time I make up that specific flower mix it only needs 1ml UP to bring it to 6, consistently. However I wanted to test. I always have different plants in different stages, and I use different feed mixes every time. It's not always the same as the feed before so while this is a decent method it doesn't always work out.

In previous grows using plain promix I had similar problems as people mentioned with lockouts/def. later on in flower causing my plant leaves to be very very ugly.

So far so good and I can surly see the beneficial difference in adding this into my mix. I have about 30 days left and I'm having none of the problems I've had in the past. Nothing major has changed except for adding more lime and more experience on my part.

In the end I'm going to pick up a pH specific meter.. the strips don't cut it for a full time indoor cultivator, but in the meantime adding more lime has helped greatly.

 

[Guest]

I got dolomite lime bt havn't used it much, cured a deficiency i had (which may hav been due to pH lock out) i jst put a half-1 hand full in the soil and watered it in (10L pots - which is bout 2 and a 1/2 gallons i think ???) ... I'' guna add some more today as da plants look like they want some ... I've heard it levels pH to around nutral rather than raises it to crazy levels so its not a big deal if u put too much in.

 

[DRKN_MNKY420]

Hello, just thought I would share my experience!

I have no idea what dolimite lime is or where to get it, so when I was at Home Depot looking for it, I found this stuff called Espoma Garden Lime. Well I read the label which says dolimitic lime or something like that and I have been using it ever since.

I do not even own a ph kit, so I don't worry about it, but I do wonder if I am giving my plants too much lime. I usually mix up like 2-3 gallons of Fox Farm OF blend w/ perlite and like 8 spoonfulls of this Espoma Lime stuff.(I am a micro grower and use 1.75 liter pots.)

FYI: My buddy has a kit and one time we tested my nutes and water, which was sittin at about 6.5. So, I said fuk it and never bought a kit.

But like I said, I sometimes wonder if I overdo it???

My plants sometimes get crispy, Like this:
This is 6 weeks 12/12, w/ bushmaster used week 1 of 12/12.

This is the Espoma Lime I have been using:


Looks like it has Mag. in it too! That is why I bought it, because I use Pure Blend Pro Bloom/Liquid Karma and no one ever told me I needed the Cal/Mag until it was too late. I had to order my stuff online because I didn't live close to a shop, but now I live almost across the street from one, by coincidence! LOL! Very NICE!

If this helps anyone hurrah, if not, give me some feedback!

Thanks,
DRKN_MNKY420

 

[Big Brother]

PH

PH

If you are directly growing in soil and not in pots, you should test both for Ph and EC every two weeks of growing, I basically test before feeding amd once before bloom and onne at bloom and once before they go to bud and at harvest.