What do I add to organic soil to lower Ph?

JustBlazin

JustBlazin

Well-Known Member
I use dolomite lime and oyster shell crushed and flour to balance my ph, I've never really checked it. But I think in most organic soils the soil microbes control the ph. I don't think 7 is that bad, I think you want it around 6.5-7 for organic soil.
Do you have any dolomite lime or oyster shell in your mix?
 
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Lonestargrower71

Member
JustBlazin said:
I use dolomite lime and oyster shell crushed and flour to balance my ph, I've never really checked it. But I think in most organic soils the soil microbes control the ph. I don't think 7 is that bad, I think you want it around 6.5-7 for organic soil.
Do you have any dolomite lime or oyster shell in your mix?
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No, I have ordered dolomite and oyster shell, but my confusion was around dolomite. Some say it is a Ph reducer while others say it is a buffer....Thank You
 
L

Lonestargrower71

Member
Herb & Suds said:
Fascinating I've never seen one that wasn't junk

You really don't need to ph soil anyway
I don't even ph my waterings ...straight from the well
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Hoping to get there as well
JustBlazin said:
I just stopped phing my water about a month ago, plants don't seem to mind at all
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:-)
JustBlazin said:
I'm not sure about this but I think dolomite lime will bring the soil closer to a 7 pH level either bringing it up or down
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Am I good with a 7.0 Ph? I keep reading it needs to be 6.3 to 6.5? My water is sitting at about 8.1 with a ton of chlorine, running it through a filter to remove chlorine, and had a cal/mag deficiency on first run with this soil mix, just trying to further dial it in. appreciate the replies.
 
Herb & Suds

Herb & Suds

Well-Known Member
Lonestargrower71 said:
Hoping to get there as well


:-)



Am I good with a 7.0 Ph? I keep reading it needs to be 6.3 to 6.5? My water is sitting at about 8.1 with a ton of chlorine, running it through a filter to remove chlorine, and had a cal/mag deficiency on first run with this soil mix, just trying to further dial it in. appreciate the replies.
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Chlorine dissipates after sitting for 24 hours

I even use bleach with plants present in my cloner...no issues

Chasing PH is often what people do when they think their plants are growing too slow
 
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youraveragehorticulturist

Well-Known Member
Tell us about your soil mix. What's in it and how long ago did you put it together? If you've just done it recently it's possible that your soil is still in the process of "cooking" and your pH might be in the middle of adjusting itself.

Compost and peat moss are both acidic a lower soil pH. They are also like 60-80% of what Good soil is made of.

If you're set on adding dry fertilizers to your soil, Amendments like cotton seed meal and stuff with sulfur lower pH. You can also get all in one fertilizers with balanced NPK and low pH. Down to Earth, Espoma and other companies have an "acid loving plants"
 
JustBlazin

JustBlazin

Well-Known Member
Lonestargrower71 said:
Hoping to get there as well


:-)



Am I good with a 7.0 Ph? I keep reading it needs to be 6.3 to 6.5? My water is sitting at about 8.1 with a ton of chlorine, running it through a filter to remove chlorine, and had a cal/mag deficiency on first run with this soil mix, just trying to further dial it in. appreciate the replies.
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The lime and oyster should help with the cal/mag deficiencies along with balancing your ph
 
L

Lonestargrower71

Member
youraveragehorticulturist said:
Tell us about your soil mix. What's in it and how long ago did you put it together? If you've just done it recently it's possible that your soil is still in the process of "cooking" and your pH might be in the middle of adjusting itself.

Compost and peat moss are both acidic a lower soil pH. They are also like 60-80% of what Good soil is made of.

If you're set on adding dry fertilizers to your soil, Amendments like cotton seed meal and stuff with sulfur lower pH. You can also get all in one fertilizers with balanced NPK and low pH. Down to Earth, Espoma and other companies have an "acid loving plants"
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I started with a biomass compost aged about 3 years before I bought it. added biochar, humic acid, diatomaceous earth, bone meal, blood meal, Great White and Recharge and let it sit another 2 months. All in all, they loved it. Grew strong and tall, relatively fast for soil. However, one showed cal/mag deficiency, one literally hated water and two showed burnt tips like a nutrient burn....I assume that was mostly genetics because the others were monsters...However, I was using Ph down and think I killed all my bacteria which led me back to soil Ph :-) Still new at living soil so just trying to get it dialed in. Thanks for the replies!
 
OSBuds

OSBuds

Well-Known Member
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D

DoobieDoobs

Well-Known Member
Lonestargrower71 said:
New t the organic conversation and made my first batch of soil Ph is sitting at 7.0 right now and looking for a way to lower the Ph down to about 6.3...........Can anyone offer suggestions on what organic amendments would be best to lower my Ph?
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Hey man, in organic growing you don't need to ph anything, the life in your medium will take care of it.
Unless your water ph is either super acid or super basic you don't need to ph anything, you water being 8.1 ish ph is good enough.

Lonestargrower71 said:
...However, I was using Ph down and think I killed all my bacteria which led me back to soil Ph :-) ...
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Now if you think you killed your bacteria with the ph up/down products, just top dress with more compost or earthworm castings.

Microorganisms reproduce very quickly, and they will die if you use an excessive amounts of salts, but even then you can get your microbe population back. I water my garden plants with water straight out of the tap, even without letting the chlorine evaporate, and my garden is green and healthy, because even tho the water has chlorine and some of the bacteria does die, they are so many and reproduce so fast that it doesn't make a difference.
 
Weedvin

Weedvin

Well-Known Member
Lonestargrower71 said:
New t the organic conversation and made my first batch of soil Ph is sitting at 7.0 right now and looking for a way to lower the Ph down to about 6.3...........Can anyone offer suggestions on what organic amendments would be best to lower my Ph?
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pH down, cottonseed meal.
 
xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
A basic ingredient of most potting mixes used in foliage plant production is peat, which tends to be acidic. Dolomite is added to growing medium to raise pH to the range of 5.5 to 6.5 and to supply plants with calcium and magnesium needed for healthy growth. Dolomite also slowly dissolves in the growing medium over time, helping to counteract the acidifying effects some fertilizers and/or irrigation water can have on growing medium pH.
 
Weedvin

Weedvin

Well-Known Member
xtsho said:
A basic ingredient of most potting mixes used in foliage plant production is peat, which tends to be acidic. Dolomite is added to growing medium to raise pH to the range of 5.5 to 6.5 and to supply plants with calcium and magnesium needed for healthy growth. Dolomite also slowly dissolves in the growing medium over time, helping to counteract the acidifying effects some fertilizers and/or irrigation water can have on growing medium pH.
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Dolomite lime stone raises pH, they have found heavy metals in Dolomites. Agricultural limestone is good.
 
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