I've looked everywhere and cannot find any. I prefer not to order online because that takes time and I'm already starting late as is. So are there any substitutes for the lime to help with the acidity of peat moss? It would be better if it could be bought from my local Lowes, Home Depot ect.
Depends - I'm not a lime fan; some are. I use Calcium Carbonate in the form of lobster/shrimp/crab meal or oyster shell flour. Massive benefits are also gained from both the calcium itself and chitin. Agricultural lime is also another good option - pure limestone. J
I'm wary of having any type of animal/blood/bone meal in my mix because they won't really have time to cook and if some critters dug up my plant I would be beyond pissed. Do you think maybe I should just drop the peat moss since I can't find lime? I was thinking of maybe Pro-Mix with any nutes coming from top dressing and teas. How's that sound? I'm just having trouble finding soil mixes. It seems like it's either I can't find amendments that I need or the soil has to cook which at this point in the game I don't have time for.
If you need amendments, online at least, check out my sig links. I use a bit of oyster shell flour, crab shell meal and a tiny amount of dolomite, because I had it around. I would recommend the crab shell meal first and foremost, due to the chitinase enzyme released by the biological decomposition of chitin acting as a deterrent to many "undesirables" in our gardens. Here's a quick link for some reading. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF02178617#page-2
The local Lowes or HD doesn't have lime??????? That's where I get mine, it's usually stacked on pallets outside in 40lb bags. It's not like lime is a hard to find esoteric item. Wet
I've been reading online and apparently eggshells have the same effect as lime except lime takes longer to actually work. Can anybody back this up?
Look outside, it's in 40lb bags, not the little bags inside. Unless it's the Espoma Lime. Outside, but under cover, where the bags of lawn fertilizer are. Eggshells take waaaay longer than lime. Plus, you would need a boatload. Wet
Only use eggshells as a fast acting Cal/Phos spray for transition into flower. Roast the shells until white grind into powder add ten parts vinegar, steep for week. Or compost them bitches, but I keep a jar of cal.phos around all the time. Sent from my HaGGarD ass phone......fap
Just use the ProMix as the peat component of your base - it's already balanced. Then add your compost/vermicompost, rock dust and nutritional amendments. Done. J