hey gc, i have some plants planted outdoors, they are planted in my old soil mix (MIX 1) from my last grow which seemed to do pretty decent, no cal mag problems or anything... i also made a 1/3 compost 1/3 peat 1/3 perlite mix (MIX 2), (added lime and a handfull of granite dust) and did half MIX 1 and half MIX 2.... i am having what looks to be cal/mg problems and i think its because i didnt crush the lime before i added it to MIX 2? im thinkin since its pellets itll take a couple weeks longer so im thinkin to combat this i would top dress with hardwood ash at a rate of 1/4 cup per 7.5 cubic feet of soil and make a ring around the outside of the plants... you think this will make my ph good until the lime kicks in? or will this over do it you think? also considering adding liquid organic cal mag for the meantime, or would low ph make it so that they couldnt uptake it? idk im confused thanks a ton, Sb
oh and MIX 2 had zero "cook" time i just threw it together and tossed it in the hole a couple days later which is the maine reason i think its ph because of the peat being too acidic
Zero 'cook' time? Lime takes a week or 2. Try and rush it with wood ash or 'cal/mag' will be an experience you could do without. Pelletized lime realeses with the first watering and is fine if you added enough to begin with. Organics isn't fast. Trying to rush it usually doesn't end well. Wet
exactly why i wanted to ask fisrt lol, yeah so ash is a bad idea from what ive been reading... so should i be foliar feeding like someone else told me? or just wait and not do anything? sorry im very new to growing plants, thanks for the help man appreciate it
oh and you know how people let their soil sit for a few weeks and chill so the microbes get at it? thats what i meant by "cook" time
It does get depleted. Not 100% depleted, but some has to be replaced. I LOVE lime and made the same mistake, figuring there was "enough" left from the previous grow. SURPRISE !! ...... Wet
Should be Ok, but a bit extra won't hurt a bit. I usually replace @~75%, but nothing is set in stone. In my experience not enough lime is way worse than a little too much. In an emergency, I've grown stuff in pure limestone 'screenings' and pretty much answered the *too much* question. Far from ideal, but nothing died or damaged. So, ????? Wet
damn why does everyone hate so much i mean yeah its a waste of money but they have their place when you dont have your mix down right... its the general organics cal mag, i didnt use anything on them and just been letting them chill out, they look like theyre just freakin from ph cuz there are calcium defeiciency signs and random leaves burning up, like not even the whole leaf but a single blade.... i know that its ph being too low, i just wanted to know what may be a quick fix.... so im thinkin that i might top dress a little with compost and just give them teas but thats what im coming up with myself i guess since no one has any advice
I see now. ok, so do you know what happens when you add too much calcium or magnesium to your soil? it will look like your plants are giving you issues by giving you red spots on your leaves misleading you into believing that you need more calmag. there is a calcium to magnesium ratio that you want to keep like 7:1 cal:mag and when you look on your bottle it says 5:1 cal:mag which isn't really all that bad. however, you shouldn't be adding calmag because pot plants are not hungry for magnesium or whatever they say because it will throw off the chemistry in the soil which is what is keeping your ph in line. generally lime mix in the soil is enough if applied correctly as long as you aren't adding more calcium carbonate or magnesium. you've probably added too much calcium which locked out magnesium giving you red spots on your leaves. my guess anyways.
dog i litterally just said up in that last post that i havent added any cal mag, i dont even use it its from a while ago and yes im plenty aware of what happens when you add too much cal mag.... iv been tryin to get a straight up answer for days and nobody wants to seem to answer my real question "what should i do since i have a ph issue and im waiting for the lime to kick in?"... yall always want the full scoop on whats good with the plants yet none of you ever really read the post, i dont get that... whatever tho thanks anway ill just do what i think is best i guess
Straight up, you wait for the lime to kick in. It will and there is nothing you can do to rush it that won't do more harm than just waiting. Just because you used it right away doesn't affect the 'cooking' at all. The microbes gotta get going, and they are, whether there is a plant in there or no. Wet
sorry you're so frustrated with us. its not ph. I still stand by with just adding the EWC and letting it ride. learning on your own is the best way.
if there was a simple quick instant answer im sure we would of told you. wet and llb gave you some sound advice. i would follow that. re: hate about cal/mag: the reason we detest that kind of product is that its basically something the chem companies put on the shelf to 'fix' problems in hydro grows. problems that could of been easily avoided had these companies had added those ingredients in sufficient amount in the main nutes. but why would they do that if they can sell you 4 bottles instead of just 1? here is a quote from Clackamas Coot i found from the no-till sticky Here's why Cal-Mag became such a big money-maker for grow stores. It's pretty simple actually: Magnesium (Mg++) can be 'dissolved' in water so they had that covered. Calcium was more of a challenge because calcium is a metallic element so it falls to the bottom of the jug of water. Chelating with EDTA took care of that easy enough so viola! a new 'problem' was created along with the easy fix - Cal-Mag products. These guys may be degenerate pieces of sh*t but they definitely have a handle on things when it comes to market penetration. I'll give them that. CC
whaaaaaaat that shits got EDTA? thats fucked i was told that general organics uses no chelating chemical bullshizz??? and yeah i know that bottled nutes are a rip off but i was in the mind that since my soil mix sometimes doesnt have enough nutes because im not doing my soil correctly... i would much rather not use bottled nutes if i didnt have to.... but thanks very much thats all i was really wondering was what i should do.... sorry for seeming frustrated but it just seems like everytime i ask for a simple answer, people try and diagnose shit for me lol.. i mean i understand why, but most people arnt asking enough info to give a solid suggestion in the fist place you kno? ladyluckybean may you please share with me why you think that it isnt a ph problem? im real curious as to what your thinking, and i get frustrated cuz you seem set in stone that it isnt ph yet you dont explain why? it just seems that a LOT of people do that but how am i supposed to really learn without understanding your thoughts? im sure you feel me on that and like i was sayin before i dont like cal mag or anything and i dont even use it, i just had it laying around so i figured i might as well see if it possibly may help, but no im not using it and i dont see why i ever would at this point. i appreciate your help everyone, i just get a lil upset when half of the info i get from the people on this website either doesnt make sense or is completely wrong... but the other half is really good shit lol so the conclusion is teas, top dress with some lobster compost and just wait.... i was also wondering if this is a situation where foliar feeding would work? isnt that the purpose of foliar feeding in the first place? please explain! thanks again
You need to look into CEC, the lime PDFs, and ewc. I did answer your question. It is not a simple answer. I'm sorry you don't understand why, but all you need to do is add ewc or transplant into a proven soil mix that everyone has success with. People are diagnosing but you're upset because we aren't asking the right questions? More like people giving you an answer. Wet gave good advice on getting your microbiology up to cycle the fertilizer.