How Much Kelp Meal?

[<Grasshopper>]

Hello:

Im gonna mix the soil up for use right away for clones already rooted in 16 oz cups.

I have 6.8 cubic feet of roots organics and fox farms and sunshine mix blended. How much kelp meal should be added for 6.8 cubic feet?

Thanks

 

[Wetdog]

"I" use a healthy 1/2 cup of kelp meal/cf of mix. I also add 1/2cup/cf of greensand to supplement the K.

By 'healthy', "I" would use 4 cups of kelp meal for 6.8cf of mix and a like amount of greensand, if available.

If you can find some, I would also add some Azomite or rock dust or something similar, but this can be hard to locate.

You ARE adding some powdered dolomite lime to this mix aren't you?? Very important&cheap.

Wet

 

[<Grasshopper>]

I did not add the powdered dolomite....or green sand...or azomite. I have mixed all the stuff and filled the pots and hauled them to the veg room but have not transplanted the clones yet. Can I add like x amount of these ingredients and mix them in a ruber made container pot by pot and just do it in my grow room? Would be much easier for me. I could mix it really well. Ok so off the the hydro store to buy these items. Can you please tell me how much to add say for a 5 gallon bucket of soil? Any other recomendations for me? Thanks

Thank You wetdog......this is my first grow and I have setup my room so killer and have spent about 1500 bucks on good gear and want to do this all right.

Grasshopper

I will be waiting to hear back from you before I transplant the clones.

Anyone who knows can chime in if possible

 

[Wetdog]

For sure, get and add the dolomite lime.

Yes, you can do it pot by pot if that is easier for you. It only gets difficult AFTER the plant is in there and the water is added. LOL

For the math, 1cf=7.48 gallons, so if your tub is big enough, 3-5gallon containers would=~2cf.

Or, you could do a bit less than 1/2 cup for each 5 gallon container. I would add the lime at this rate also. "I" use more, but my mix is very acidic. I use 1cup/cf of the lime.

Wet

 

[<Grasshopper>]

The containers are more like 4.5 gallon I think. They were freebies from the nursery. I have a few that are 6 or 7 also. What does the dolomite do for me? I will search it also and bone up on the stuff. I used to use lime water (kalkwasser) in my aquarium to raise the alk and calcium to get my corals to grow. Dolomite is cal and magnesium right. I am useing reverse osmosis water...even more reason to use it right? Will dolomite replace the cal/mag that I have been reading that I may need to use when useing RO water?

It was Mrs Wages pickling lime. It also raised the waters PH

Wetdog....thank you for helping young grasshopper....

 

[Wetdog]

The containers are more like 4.5 gallon I think. They were freebies from the nursery. I have a few that are 6 or 7 also. What does the dolomite do for me? I will search it also and bone up on the stuff. I used to use lime water (kalkwasser) in my aquarium to raise the alk and calcium to get my corals to grow. Dolomite is cal and magnesium right. I am useing reverse osmosis water...even more reason to use it right? Will dolomite replace the cal/mag that I have been reading that I may need to use when useing RO water?

Exactly right. I don't use RO, but the dolomite should be enough. Just be aware of 0 cal/mag in the RO water. It will also keep your soil buffered to 6.5-6.8

It was Mrs Wages pickling lime. It also raised the waters PH

Save that, it might be a bit too fast acting for your plants good. The dolomite is a more slow release. Just make sure you get powdered, At Lowes, it's called ground. The pellets are too slow and will start to work about 3 weeks AFTER harvest.

Wetdog....thank you for helping young grasshopper....

No problem. If you kept a reef tank, you understand about things you need.

Wet

 

[Luger187]

hey wetdog, i found out the dolomite lime i got was pelletized. i went to lowes and home depot and couldnt find any dolomite. what section is it in? i only looked in the garden area. if i cant find it, can i crush up this pelletized stuff?

 

[ClamDigger]

hey wetdog, i found out the dolomite lime i got was pelletized. i went to lowes and home depot and couldnt find any dolomite. what section is it in? i only looked in the garden area. if i cant find it, can i crush up this pelletized stuff?

pelletized will work fine, just be sure to get it in your dirt mix beforehand, or ASAP because it will take just slightly longer to activate.
on the other hand, it will last longer, making life easier

 

[Luger187]

oops didnt realize this was an old thread lol

thanks clamdigger. i plan on mixing my soil up today, then waiting a few weeks before putting plants in it. so it should be ok if it takes a little time to 'activate'

 

[Wetdog]

If you can crunch up some of the pellets, like with a hammer, that will help some.

Just be sure and moisten your mix to get the lime working. Doesn't have to be sopping wet, just evenly moist and you should be fine.

Wet

 

[<Grasshopper>]

If you test the pellets in water...they disolve in about 1 minute so the first time you water they will disperse just like the powdered stuff. At least the dolomite I use does. If I want to water in to fast adjust the PH in a hurry I use sweet hydrated lime...but thats only if I am getting N lockout and the runnoff is 5.4 or lower...its 2 tbl per gallon hydrated lime. If you are mixing your soil like supersoil or just ammending some peat based stuff like sunshine mix just use about 6 or 8 tbl spoons per regular size bag soil. it depends on what type of soil its going in. Im no expert but since I started this thread last year I have had plenty of experiance with PH issues and have it all figured out niow...

Good grow...

 

[Luger187]

If you can crunch up some of the pellets, like with a hammer, that will help some.

Just be sure and moisten your mix to get the lime working. Doesn't have to be sopping wet, just evenly moist and you should be fine.

Wet

i plan on putting it in an old water tank i have for a few weeks. every few days or so, im going to water it with molasses. maybe some bacteria if i find someone with some. the stuff in the soil has enough bacteria, but if i can inoculate some more in for free, why not right? haha

If you test the pellets in water...they disolve in about 1 minute so the first time you water they will disperse just like the powdered stuff. At least the dolomite I use does. If I want to water in to fast adjust the PH in a hurry I use sweet hydrated lime...but thats only if I am getting N lockout and the runnoff is 5.4 or lower...its 2 tbl per gallon hydrated lime. If you are mixing your soil like supersoil or just ammending some peat based stuff like sunshine mix just use about 6 or 8 tbl spoons per regular size bag soil. it depends on what type of soil its going in. Im no expert but since I started this thread last year I have had plenty of experiance with PH issues and have it all figured out niow...

Good grow...

thanks for the tips. i was actually going to send u a PM and see what you learned =P
ill throw some of my lime in water to see whatsup with that. if it doesnt dissolve good, ill just crush it up. im not worried about it anymore

 

[Luger187]

i just did a water test. the dolomite is tiny brown pellets(clay mixed with dolomite i believe). they immediately melt and the water turns brown. also bubbles start to come out of it, which may be the oxygen coming out. not sure

im just going to throw it in my soil. it should work good since im letting it sit for a few weeks anyways

 

[Wetdog]

i plan on putting it in an old water tank i have for a few weeks. every few days or so, im going to water it with molasses. maybe some bacteria if i find someone with some. the stuff in the soil has enough bacteria, but if i can inoculate some more in for free, why not right? haha

Unless you have good drainage, or do a lot of stirring it up, I'd hold off on the water+molasses every few days bit.

The initial watering/moistening with the water/molasses is all you need unless it dries out.

Wet

 

[Luger187]

Unless you have good drainage, or do a lot of stirring it up, I'd hold off on the water+molasses every few days bit.

The initial watering/moistening with the water/molasses is all you need unless it dries out.

Wet

okey dokey