How much powdered dolomite?

I just recently took a reading of my soils PH. It is 5 to 5.5 on all 3 plants that I have. It looked like a mag deficiency but it's def a PH issue. I bought powdered dolomite lime but I didn't know how to give it to each plant. Should I mix dolomite in the water with my next watering? If so how much dolomite per gallon of water. Thanks I look forward to your replies.

Your ph meter is calibrated or you have taken test results via multiple methods?

My notes say that to raise soil ph from the 5.5 range to 7.0, lime is applied at rate of 25 pounds per 1000 sq. feet. (obviously agriculture application instructions). But if you know your total sq. footage of dirt, we should be able to do the math and that is how much I would add to the water being applied. Take note that lime works great to raise ph but can work frustratingly slow. I'm about to prepare my soils for next season now so I can get them composted and still have lots of time to make adjustments if needed.

Wood ash I believe works faster but I do not have notes on application rates. Maybe someone else can help?

A tablespoon of either (dolomite or wood ash) per gallon of water would be a good place to start. The wood ash acts pretty much immediately.

the wood ash will boost k, the dolomite will boost c and mag.

1itsme said:

the wood ash will boost k, the dolomite will boost c and mag.

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Wood ash has a lot of Ca as well, here's a link to a university fact sheet that gives a pretty good rundown on wood ash. Has decent macro and micro nutes. Good info.

http://www.caes.uga.edu/publications/pubDetail.cfm?pk_ID=6246

Peace - AIM

my water coming out of my soil always reads 5.5 or so it should from what i hear. but just spring like a cup on the top of the soil and just water it in. and when your mixing your soil up to begin with i add 1 cup per cupic foot of soil. and then il add some to the top like after 8-10 weeks of being in the pot which probably isnt needed but i have not had any ill effects and my plants stay green till i give it just fresh water the last couple of waterings.

Thanks for the answers guys. I might just give it the tablespoon of dolomite. They are three plants in medium size pots. How long does dolomite take to take effect? Would u suggest using wood ash instead. Where do I get that from?

it can take a few weeks for pulverized maybe less? id be careful over correcting your plants.

afaik most soil mixes have @ 1t lime per gallon of mix, but most mixes have lime already. it's just that it rinses out/gets used over time. hth

Alkaline said:

Thanks for the answers guys. I might just give it the tablespoon of dolomite. They are three plants in medium size pots. How long does dolomite take to take effect? Would u suggest using wood ash instead. Where do I get that from?

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it should start buffering pretty much right away if you water it in afaik.

Anecdotally, my grow log shows it took me about a month to raise my ph by 1 point (like 5.0 to 6.0) using powdered dolomite lime.

Where do you get wood ash? It's kind of expensive but I have some I can sell you. LOL No, seriously, a fireplace.

Anybody you know that has a fireplace and burns wood will be happy to give you some ash.

Alkaline said:

Thanks for the answers guys. I might just give it the tablespoon of dolomite. They are three plants in medium size pots. How long does dolomite take to take effect? Would u suggest using wood ash instead. Where do I get that from?

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Don't bother mixing the dolomite with water. It is finely ground rock and isn't water soluble.

Top dress (sprinkle on the top), 2tbl/gallon of pot size. 3 gal container = 6tbl of powdered dolo.

Give it a couple of weeks to start working, but only one application is needed.

Next time, add it to your mix before planting. 1cup/cf of mix.

Wet