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Dolomite Lime

Diabolus

Diabolus

I've been using bonemeal for the past few years to add calcium and prevent blossom end rot. So at Home Depot I noticed a 2 kg box of dolomite lime for way cheaper than the box of bonemeal. Plus the lime has the added benefit of magnesium. My question has to do with dosage. I have 5 gallon pots which I would mix in about one cup of bonemeal. What about if I substitute the lime? I'm worried about adding too much or too little.
 
I haven't a clue on how much you would add, but I do know that too much will throw the PH balance out and turn your soil alkaline. Hopefully someone can chime in with a recommended dose.
 
Diabolus .... I not going to be of great help ... but here I go. There is Dolomite Lime that is about the size of kitty litter, then there's fine dolomite lime. Dolomite Lime takes time to work ..... and it's a slow process .... the finer it is the faster it starts working.

To really figure out how much you need you have to play around a little . Add some .... test the pH in 2 to 2 weeks if it's fine. Lime effects the pH so things will change with time.

Sorry I can't recommend a place to start. It depends on your soil now. Mine might could use more ..... yours maybe less

Peace and good luck ,
P. Dreadie
 
I'm not sure of exact amounts, I just go by instructions on the bag.
I believe dolomitic lime has a pH of 7 (hydrated lime is around 8) and will neutralize your soil. It shouldn't make it alkaline, but too much may give you excess magnesium
 
I bought 50 lb. bag of the kitty litter size dolomite lime and spread it around 200 nursery containers, about .25 lbs. per plant. I thought that would be enough but my plants still look like they still need some bone meal. Bone meal has worked wonders on my plants in the past to kick start their growth and help correct the pH.
 
With dolomite you want the fine powdered stuff (as fine a baby powder). Here a 50# bag sells for $4.50 at the farmer's CO-OP.

Mix the dolomite with your potting mix, moisten the mix and let the pile sit for a couple of weeks (longer even better) before using in your containers. If you can't wait and use it right after mixing it will take a while before doing much good.
 
Wpayton0034 said:
I have some right here and it says 1 Tbs. per gallon. Mine is an ultra fine powder.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but how much of that gallon solution would you add to a #5 pot? ;)

How much lime you add should depend on the existing PH of the soil as well as the type of soil. For example, a sandy soil would require less lime than a silty soil.

When making my own mix for containers I add 2 cups of dolomite for every 5 gallon bucket of peat and that gets the PH pretty close to 6 - 6.5. If you're using a store bought mix the PH should have already been adjusted, so if you want more calcium use something like gypsum that doesn't alter the PH.
 
I know I harp on it a bunch, but for tomatoes I don't think one can beat Tomato-tone for an early and very effective fertilizer. It has extra calcium, not a lot of nitrogen, beneficial microbes, is not that expensive (~$1.50/lb.) and has a side advantage of being organic! Even though the tech people do not recommend it for hydro growing, I have found it works great.

Mike
 
I don't know about using tomato tone for hydro, but I love it for tomatoes and peppers in containers and in ground both. It works great in my opinion. Espoma has a great line of ferts too. This year I am trying the garden tone for the beans, squash, corn and cucumbers to see if it works better than the plant tone I have been using.

jacob
 
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