Calcium Carbonate sources

Jcue81

Jcue81

Well-Known Member
Hey all-

i am having some issues with my plants in earthboxes and I am wondering if it is due to an incorrect source of calcium carbonate. i have been using Coast Of Maine lobster meal. From some quick googling it looks like lobster shells are made primarily of chitin, not calcium carbonate. Going to use OSF going forward.

wondering if I just have no ph buffering going on in my peat based mix and am suffering from low PH.

I appreciate any tips!

Organic Earthbox PH Issue

Hey All! I have three clones that I received on 2/16 and planted in 1 gallon pots using Roots Organic soil. I am inexperienced with clones and overwatered them, turning the stems on 2 of the 3 purple. I let them dry out and they slowly recovered. i did not feed them during these two weeks...
rollitup.org
 
jimihendrix1

jimihendrix1

Well-Known Member
Calcitic Lime is a great source of calcium carbonate.

Promix BX, and HP are both peat based mediums, and use both Calcitic Lime, and Dolomitic lime to adjust the PH.

They use it at 2/3 parts Calcitic lime, to 1/3 parts Dolomitic lime.

People also use oyster shells as a source of calcium carbonate.

But when you combine calcitic//dolomitic lime you get good levels of both calcium carbonate, and magnesium.

Calcitic affects PH faster. Dolomite is slower release.

Oyster shells are also slow t break down.
 
McShnutz

McShnutz

Well-Known Member
Jcue81 said:
Hey all-

i am having some issues with my plants in earthboxes and I am wondering if it is due to an incorrect source of calcium carbonate. i have been using Coast Of Maine lobster meal. From some quick googling it looks like lobster shells are made primarily of chitin, not calcium carbonate. Going to use OSF going forward.

wondering if I just have no ph buffering going on in my peat based mix and am suffering from low PH.

I appreciate any tips!

Organic Earthbox PH Issue

Hey All! I have three clones that I received on 2/16 and planted in 1 gallon pots using Roots Organic soil. I am inexperienced with clones and overwatered them, turning the stems on 2 of the 3 purple. I let them dry out and they slowly recovered. i did not feed them during these two weeks...
rollitup.org
Click to expand...
The chitin is broken down into chitenase,, trichoderma love that shit!! Trich can help regulate low pH as they tend to lean alkaline due to the metabolites they release. Actually all fungi excrete metabolites, in hobbiest mycology we call this myc piss because it looks like it. It comes from mycelium that's in its colonization (growth) phase.

If your using organic origins in your substrate, you should fed the microbes to encourage their presence.
Are you using blackstrap molasses or any polysaccharides, like aloe vera?

I have home made lobster meal I use in my coco beds. I haven't seen a calcium deficiency for many years. Sometimes it just takes a little while for the microbes to start breaking down hard shell. It does contain plenty of calcium, it just has to be unlocked.

Silica will help raise pH. Lime is always an option, but easily overdone with the more immediate action forms.
Bicarbonate can help too but can accumulate with too much use. The idea is to propagate a well rounded micro herd. I suspect your substrate isn't "fully cooked" or enriched properly yet by the micros.

Molasses can speed thing up, but with a low pH of the soil, adding a molasses drench will make things worse. I'd suggest brewing some AACT. Molasses and worm shit. Maybe turn a few dried egg shells into powder and throw that in the AACT.

I have noticed when I brew with a little organic calcium and Epsom salts ( 1.5tbsp/ 5gal) I get foam much quicker than without. Foam means enzymes are high. Because bacteria is high. High populations are very efficient at making some of the calcium available. But what were really after is the diversity of microbes. Once that AACT reacts within the substrate, you'll have better pH regulation. You have to feed the microbes, and with organic soil, what the plant actually gets from it could be a week later. So try to plan ahead 1 or 2 weeks in advance.

Hope this helps
 
Jcue81

Jcue81

Well-Known Member
McShnutz said:
The chitin is broken down into chitenase,, trichoderma love that shit!! Trich can help regulate low pH as they tend to lean alkaline due to the metabolites they release. Actually all fungi excrete metabolites, in hobbiest mycology we call this myc piss because it looks like it. It comes from mycelium that's in its colonization (growth) phase.

If your using organic origins in your substrate, you should fed the microbes to encourage their presence.
Are you using blackstrap molasses or any polysaccharides, like aloe vera?

I have home made lobster meal I use in my coco beds. I haven't seen a calcium deficiency for many years. Sometimes it just takes a little while for the microbes to start breaking down hard shell. It does contain plenty of calcium, it just has to be unlocked.

Silica will help raise pH. Lime is always an option, but easily overdone with the more immediate action forms.
Bicarbonate can help too but can accumulate with too much use. The idea is to propagate a well rounded micro herd. I suspect your substrate isn't "fully cooked" or enriched properly yet by the micros.

Molasses can speed thing up, but with a low pH of the soil, adding a molasses drench will make things worse. I'd suggest brewing some AACT. Molasses and worm shit. Maybe turn a few dried egg shells into powder and throw that in the AACT.

I have noticed when I brew with a little organic calcium and Epsom salts ( 1.5tbsp/ 5gal) I get foam much quicker than without. Foam means enzymes are high. Because bacteria is high. High populations are very efficient at making some of the calcium available. But what were really after is the diversity of microbes. Once that AACT reacts within the substrate, you'll have better pH regulation. You have to feed the microbes, and with organic soil, what the plant actually gets from it could be a week later. So try to plan ahead 1 or 2 weeks in advance.

Hope this helps
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for your reply. That all makes a lot of sense and I agree the no cook time got me here. I used the same soil recipe with great success last cycle, but it was in a large bed for weeks with a cover crop before the plants went in.

An AACT with some shells and Epsom it is. I have organic blackstrap, live and powdered aloe but haven’t used any this cycle now that I think about it. I have a bag of agsil-16 but haven’t used it yet. Would this be a good source of silica for a soil amendment?

Really appreciate your reply!
 
Jcue81

Jcue81

Well-Known Member
jimihendrix1 said:
Calcitic Lime is a great source of calcium carbonate.

Promix BX, and HP are both peat based mediums, and use both Calcitic Lime, and Dolomitic lime to adjust the PH.

They use it at 2/3 parts Calcitic lime, to 1/3 parts Dolomitic lime.

People also use oyster shells as a source of calcium carbonate.

But when you combine calcitic//dolomitic lime you get good levels of both calcium carbonate, and magnesium.

Calcitic affects PH faster. Dolomite is slower release.

Oyster shells are also slow t break down.
Click to expand...
Thanks!
 
McShnutz

McShnutz

Well-Known Member
Jcue81 said:
Thank you so much for your reply. That all makes a lot of sense and I agree the no cook time got me here. I used the same soil recipe with great success last cycle, but it was in a large bed for weeks with a cover crop before the plants went in.

An AACT with some shells and Epsom it is. I have organic blackstrap, live and powdered aloe but haven’t used any this cycle now that I think about it. I have a bag of agsil-16 but haven’t used it yet. Would this be a good source of silica for a soil amendment?

Really appreciate your reply!
Click to expand...
From what I know of agsil 16, yes it is a great source, but highly reactive. It will add alot of potassium so use it very very sparingly. Add in AACT at the begining.

Fresh aloe can be acidic but neutralizes quickly from oxidation. Add at the very end of AACT, upon using it. 1/4 cup of fresh gel blended into a puree, or whatever the recommend powder measurement.

.5- 1tbsp/ gallon molasses we want to awaken the microbes, but not give too much easy food that they focus on the molasses over the organic dry inputs. This can speed up the population count and assimilate nutrient quicker. Unless you want to brew for 3 days.
 
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