PH question.

[Duffman]

I've read that you can raise ph by adding lime. But in most cases it says to add the lime to your soil mix. My question is, can I add the lime to the top of the soil and just water it in with its regular food? I'm about 25 days into flower, so I can't repot. Any help or useful thoughts are appreciated.

duffman

 

[fred]

usally people dont do that cuz it locks up the nitrogen if i rember corectly..you can use dyno-grow which has calcium in it+if you did do the applications of both they would hav to be 2 weeks apart...if me is rembering correctly,appling the way you suggest.im not sure if you could tak a 1/8 of a teaspoon of lime to gallon of water and use lik that,i dont know if that would inable you to applie the fert. sooner,this way? i not sure if organics would work lik this,but that how chemical ferts. react with lime. peace the fred...

 

[dagnabit]

u can transplant 25 days into flower dont worry u can also use ph up in your water(avail in the pet or pool store) to raise your ph i usually measure the runoff frob pure 7.0 water to find out how much i need to adjust.


one
nabit

 

[Guest]

Duffman, I heard you can use hydrated lime (which is fast acting) mixed w/ water and it will raise the pH. I'm not sure how much to use but I believe it is very easy to burn using it. Next time use 2 tbs of dolomitic lime for every gallon of soil mix.

As far as watering it in, I don't see why it wouldn't help atleast. Don't ecspect it to work immediately though. The dolomitic lime you topdress w/ needs a couple weeks to break down before it will become active.

 

[Duffman]

Well I found some hydrated lime at franks nursery. It said on the box to add 1 tablespoon per gallon of water. But it also said its pretty much a one time application when adding it to water. This is all new to me so if anyone has done this, how often do I need to add lime water to my plants? Just once or will I need to check the ph in a week or so to see if its helping and maybe add some more? This I do not know, any help is appreciated.

Also will hydrated lime work in the soil the same as dolomite lime?

DM

 

[Guest]

I'm really not too sure about using the hydrated lime. My suggestion would be to start out slow... say use 1/4 tbs. or 1/2 tbs. at first. You really need to transplant them into some soil w/ the dolomite lime. You'll be alot happier you did. You can pretty much say adios to pH problems. I used to be in the same boat as you until I started using dolomite lime. It still helps to pH your water/nutrient you give 'em though.

Oh and to answer your question about hydrated vs. dolomite... the hydrated is fast release so even if you mix it into your soil and it doesn't burn the plants, it won't stick around too long in your soil because of how fast it is used. So obviously the dolomite lime is slow release. That's why you have to premix your soil with the dolomite lime 2 weeks before you plant in it so it can start to help with pH. Also, make sure you keep it moist and stir it up daily. Oh and just to say I said it... the dolomite lime will not be available for the plants (Mg or pH) until it is moist for a couple weeks. This is because it needs to be broken down by micro organisms. Also, if you use chemical ferts it might hender the lime a bit. It's kind of a no-no to mix chemical (salt) ferts w/ organic ferts.

Sorry if I rambled too much!

 

[Dave420]

I agree -I did a transplant on mine at 30days flowering and they did not mind at all-just be gentle(I had them in a far too small pot and it was transplant or let them die.)I also hit them with 1 ml /gallon of water superthrive and 1/4 tsp soluable seaweed extract at transplant .no shock or wilt at all and they are growing like weeds.(or weed at least)

 

[Duffman]

Guys, thank you very much! From now on i'm going to be a lime man. Your answers were just the info I was looking for, very detailed. Thanks. I can't find dolomite lime for some reason, I have been all over the place and no one has it. I think it is a little early in the season for the garden centers to have it around here. I will find it eventually. Thanks again for the help I will post my results when I have some.

Keep it real

DM

 

[Dave420]

try sunnyland lawn and garden lime in the yellow and white bag.

 

[Duffman]

Well I have some results. I tested my ph today and it has went up to 6.5 which is about 2.0 higher than it was. I will test the ph each time now to see how long it holds steady. My ladys have all perked up considerably so this has been a great help.

Another question to you guys, when can I start giving my plant fert again? I just gave it water today but I wasn't sure when to start giving it food again. Thanks for all of the help, I'm still on the lookout for the dolomite lime.

PS: has anyone ever seen the movie Dolomite? It's funny as hell!



DM

 

[Guest]

I'm glad to hear everything is starting to recover. That's always a good feelin', let me tell ya'!!

As soon as they make a well established recovery (you'll just know... feel the plants) I say start off with 1/2 strength of what you would normally give and increase as they react.

 

[Duffman]

Averagejoe, you are a Lifesaver. No pun intended. I have a Lifesaver mom that I just cloned the other day, I can't wait til I have some of it to smoke again. The strain I'm trying to save is Cali-OB which is a beautiful plant, I have a few nice clones of it that are about to hit the flower room also.
Thanks again for the reply and helping me fix my problems. I will probably wait for a few waterings to give it any go-go juice.


DM

 

[Guest]

I'm curious Duffman, how much hydrated lime did you mix with the water to bring up your pH?

 

[Duffman]

Averagejoe- I added 1 tablespoon to a gallon of water. I gave all of my plants this and it did not burn them, thank god. I read one of your post after I did it and was a little worried about burning them but they are all turning dark green again. I'm curious to see how long this keeps my ph up. I have a feeling once I start the fert again its going to go back down.
Question I recently bought 3 different kinds of bat guano. Have you ever used this stuff before? I was curious if it was acidic and what is the best way to apply it. Some of the guano is in pellet form so I was wondering if you have to make some kind of guano tea or can I add this to my soil mix?

DM

 

[Guest]

I add guano to my soil mix and I use it in teas as well. Since I use liquid ferts thru out the grow I tend to make my soil mix real mild. Like for my flowering mix I have sittin' right now is:

5 parts peat
3 parts perlite
2 parts EWC

1/2 tbs of mexican guano (10-2-0)
1 tbs of indonesian guano (0-13-0)
1 tbs of kelpmeal (1-0-2)
2 tbs of dolomite lime

The mexican guano is in pellets and all I did to crush it up was put it in a plastic ziploc bag and lightly beat w/ hammer. I'm really not too sure if it is nessacary to crush it up if you're using it in a tea. I do just to be safe.

 

[Duffman]

That mix sounds good. I have the mexican, indonesian and another kind so I will try that in my next mix. How do you do your teas? I have not used the guano because I want to make sure i'm adding it correctly. Most people I talk to speak highly of it. Thanks again for all of the help.

DM

 

[Guest]

Gotta' love the guanos!! I take a pair of panty hose and cut one of the legs off for my tea bag. Then I put the guano in the bag at a rate of 1 tbs/gal of water (I think you can go up to 3 tbs/gal). Tie it closed and drop it in the water. They say if you use a cheap pump (you can get it in the fish section at wallyworld) it will help bubble for a day or two before use. I personally just shake the heck out of it every chance I get for a day or two then feed. Seems to do ok for me.

 

[Duffman]

Thanks again Joe, I am going to try that for a upcoming feeding. The ph is starting to drop a little from 6.5 to 6.1 so I will keep updating my progress.
I was reading a post somewhere recently that was talking about having fans blow over your plants. Well I had a small ocilating fan in my flower room so I decided to rig a much bigger fan to blow over my plants instead. WOW what a difference, my plant that is farthest along has really bulked up in all ways since I did this. It seemed to dence up the bud alot and increased resin by a ton. Just an observation. Thanks again.

DM