Dolomite Lime: Did I buy the right stuff?

[Gurtgurt]

Hello fellows,

I just went to home depot in search of "dolomite lime." FYI I am very new to gardening if you couldn't tell.

The only one they had that wasn't in pellets was "Pennington fast acting lime, plus AST." On the back it does say "derived from dolomitic lime." So, is this the right stuff?

I am adding this to Fox Farm Ocean Forest. It says it's more powerful than regular lime -- can someone tell me the right ratio to add?

Thank you!!

 

[freezeland2]

You do you want to add that to perfectly good soil?

 

[Gurtgurt]

There are threads saying that FFOF is a little too acid; apparently adding this dolomite lime raises the pH, supplies Ca & Mg, and 'acts as a buffer' (like I have any idea what that means lol).

I just expected to see a bag labeled "dolomite lime." This is what I could find.

Like I said, I'm no gardener.

 

[MIGrampaUSA]

Hello fellows,

I just went to home depot in search of "dolomite lime." FYI I am very new to gardening if you couldn't tell.

The only one they had that wasn't in pellets was "Pennington fast acting lime, plus AST." On the back it does say "derived from dolomitic lime." So, is this the right stuff?

I am adding this to Fox Farm Ocean Forest. It says it's more powerful than regular lime -- can someone tell me the right ratio to add?

Thank you!!

That looks like garden lime. It's not the same as dolomite. Garden lime can easily throw your soil pH out of range. FFOF soil pH should already be pH adjusted. While I am one who will use dolomite lime as needed, I check my soil pH prior to using any. Dolomite is very slow release and because of that, you're not likely to raise your soil pH above 6.5. Garden lime is fast release and a very small amount can be too much in some cases.

 

[Galvatron]

Perhaps calcium carbonate? There is a pelletized product called Calpril.

 

[Ponky]

Why do you want to amend your soil? And why dolomite lime?

 

[Gurtgurt]

I've not done a slurry pH sample but did test runoff water the other day and it was like 5. This is why I wanted to add this to the soil.

See: https://www.420magazine.com/community/threads/fox-farms-ocean-forest-adding-lime.146379/ and others.

 

[Ponky]

Dolomitic Lime (2kg): Neutralize & condition acidic soil

C-I-L® Dolomitic Lime neutralizes acidic soil. Optimal pH is 6.0-7.4, use if below 5.9. This garden fertilizer naturally conditions the soil and provides available calcium and magnesium for optimal results. Apply as directed below. Best timing: early spring or late fall. Gardens: Work the...

growdaddycanada.com

Dolomitic lime I think is the stuff. But not fast acting. Might also consider Silica. There are lots of articles on it. In PDF form.
Haven't used that soil. So someone who had and amended it hopefully catches this thread. I think fast acting might be risky. And you can't afford to screw up the amount. Armor Si. Might he the way to go.

 

[Oldchucky]

I add slow acting lime to my soil when amending it for next year. Reuse my soil instead of buying New. It’s just ag Lime but the sieve Should be at least 80%. Fine Powder in a paper bag like concrete. And doesn’t cost very much. Will try to upload a crummy picture.

 

[Oldchucky]

I think it just lends A little pH stability to the soil especially when watering with well water and adding more volatile amendments. I only useIt before planting. But I think you can top dress with it but you just won’t get fast results. You have the more volatile line so you have to watch it.

 

[TheItalianKind]

Who said FFOF is acidic? With respect to that individual, Peat moss is inherently acidic so any soil that has lots of peat and no buffering could be considered acidic! All of the FoxFarm soils are buffered to some degree ime.

Dolomite lime has a pretty terrible ratio for cannabis. It has way to much magnesium. This is why Fox Farm uses Dolomite and oyster shell in Happy Frog.
Ideally one wants about 3x’s more calcium than magnesium. A ratio of 3 calcium - 1 magnesium produces outstanding results for most any cannabis genetics.

Ocean forest isn’t acidic, it’s hot. It’ll burn the hell out of seedlings and can burn rooted clones(I’ve had lots of success with clones in OF with just added pearlite) that are more sensitive to nitrogen.
I would be much more concerned about improving your drainage with the Ocean Forest than ph buffering. At least 10% more perlite(or something comparable) is highly recommended. I’ve used palates of FFOF after all these years.
I think it’s calcitic lime, It should be pure calcium carbonate but they might have added stuff to it.
If you use it properly that should work beautifully.
What is the PH of your water?
What strains are your growing?
What kind of nutes are you gonna use when the food in the Ocean Forest is eaten up?
What is the ec/ppm of your water?
Ironically, that might give you way better results than Dolomite. I’d very careful with how much you add as FFOF is already buffered.

Lots of organics are very acidic and the added calcium could work beautifully but if your not using super acidic organic nutes I’d take it back or save it for your grass.

 

[Gurtgurt]

Well, shit. I was impatient and added a little less than 1 cup of this stuff to 1.5 cu ft soil after I pulverized it with mortar and pestle.

There are in fact several sources saying it's a good additive (not necessarily what I bought):

As I've been finding out, there are as many sources saying to use it as there are saying to never use it

I decided to research it after taking a pH sample of runoff water... pH was quite low; but I've since found out that most say testing pH of water runoff in soil is a fool's errand. Perhaps I'll take a slurry sample tomorrow... Might restart if necessary; the plants are young.

Plants are strain LSD. They are about 3.5 weeks from sprout. I use pH drops to test incoming water; the last pH pen I had was garbage. I do not have a tester for EC, PPM, etc. I plan to use fox farm nutrients trio in a couple weeks.

I also added about 25% perlite. I transplanted the plants into 5 gal containers today.

 

[Ponky]

Maybe a little worm castings and sphagnum and perlite. Mix it all up with that premium soil.

 

[Oldchucky]

Yo, gurt. I wasn’t trying to tell you whether to use it or not. I was trying to show you the More benign form of Lime available. The stuff that you mix in ahead of time and it does it’s thing over months, not days. It sounds like you gave your girls a pretty stiff shot of it, so I hope it works but keep your eyes open. Look for signs of an OD. Just throwing a little info out there and it’s up to you to do the research. Good luck brother.I’ve never added it during a grow.

 

[Gurtgurt]

It's okay old Chucky I didn't take it personal :) I thank you for your advice.

A bag of FFOF here is like $30; and I found that bag of lime stuck way in the back at this ghetto home depot.

I'll do a slurry pH test tomorrow. Maybe I'll just wing it... Get some nuggets full of essential vitamins and minerals.

Since this is my second grow I'm trying to get things more dialed in... Maybe I should have listened to my own initial mindset and stuck with "it's just a weed, stick it in dirt and water it".

We need a WEED WIKI

 

[TheItalianKind]

Hey-

Relax with respect, yooz remind me of myself 23 years ago. Some of the greatest outdoor grows I've ever had where guerilla grows when I was really young and really didn't know wtf I was doing.

A cup or less of fast calcium in 1.5 cu. ft. of soil + 25% perlite isn't going to cause severe calcium toxicity!!

You need to get yourself a good ph tester ASAP and a good ec/ppm pen.
Good luck man.

 

[Gurtgurt]

Any recommendations for that equipment? I had a pH pen from Amazon... some yellow rebranded piece of Chinese garbage... after recalibrating several times and never getting a consistent reading I decided it was trash.

(A testament to Amazon being flooded with... No other way to put it... Chinese garbage. Seriously!)

 

[Moshmen]

Any recommendations for that equipment? I had a pH pen from Amazon... some yellow rebranded piece of Chinese garbage... after recalibrating several times and never getting a consistent reading I decided it was trash.

(A testament to Amazon being flooded with... No other way to put it... Chinese garbage. Seriously!)

When I started I had same ph issues - I currently use Dolomite when neede to help with ph- I have also given up on the ph pens and now use aquarium drops ! It may take a minute to find what works for you but don’t be afraid to try things everybody’s grow is different and what works for me may or may not work for you

I add 1 tablespoon of Dolomite to about 2 gal of promix and never use ph up or down- if I feel I need to adjust I do it with nutes

a good ec/ppm pen will be your friend !

 

[freezeland2]

I think if amendments were necessary for soil right out of the bag the soil producers would have already added them. Reuse of soil is another matter but new fresh soil right out of the bag I just don’t see the purpose other than over loving on our plants. Most times it leads to problems. There is countless threads here asking to diagnose plant problems that are many times caused by over amending.

 

[Moshmen]

I think if amendments were necessary for soil right out of the bag the soil producers would have already added them. Reuse of soil is another matter but new fresh soil right out of the bag I just don’t see the purpose other than over loving on our plants. Most times it leads to problems. There is countless threads here asking to diagnose plant problems that are many times caused by over amending.

Over amending/feeding/loving #1 cause of failure keep it simple to start