I'm not sure how to proceed...

Ok, so I made a huge goof. I'm growing in Promix BX. I won't go too in to detail about what I'm using because I know what my problem is, I just need advice on how to fix it. I managed to apply WAY too much lime to my plants. My PH range is now super fucking high and since its pulverized lime in promix it won't be coming out any time soon.
I poisoned all of my plants but the ones in question are in their second and third weeks of 12-12. Already one is about to drop all of it's fan leaves and the buds are only just beginning to form. To me this means that the problem will likely affect the buds late in flower unless I can figure out how to fix it.
Herein lies my question:
What direction should I go? I don't know if they are worth saving, or if they are even able to be saved. I wonder if anyone has experience with this. I am just really trying to avoid wasting time if these aren't going to yield anything, but at the same time I don't want to throw away plants that will yield something...

Too much lime would create nutrient imbalance from the elements the lime is made up of.
Too much lime cannot raise pH above 7. I think you are wrong. No disrespect.

Lime only reacts in the presence of acids, it neutralizes these acids and raises pH to around 7 or just below as soil is usually always fighting pH back down acidic. It cannot raise pH above 7. It's the minerals that can be too much.
The super high pH can be from something else going on in the soil or how it was mixed. If pH of soil is always above 7, the lime would not react, the chemical nuetralizing effect will not occur, but those elements in the lime can be in excess.

peat moss is acidic and can be used to lower pH naturally.

Yea I read that some place before too. Then I decided to test it. Try stirring some pulverized lime in to some water, let it sit for 24 hours and then test the PH and let me know what ya get. I can save you some time and let you know that it will raise the PH way over 7 if you add enough lime. No acid needed.

That type of response is exactly why I usually avoid these forums. I ask for experience and someone starts explaining a bunch of text book theory. Practice is a lot different than theory most of the time. I don't care what the science says, when you add too much lime the ph willl rise unruly levels. This is not the first time I have seen it happen. Maybe its from some combination or balance of chemicals or the lack there of, but at the end of the day adding too much lime will make the ph go up.

Johnei said:

peat moss is acidic and can be used to lower pH naturally.

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Thank you. This is exactly the type of response I was looking for.

I have to see this test myself to believe it. How can adding something that has a pH of 7, no matter how much you add, raise pH above it's natural pH? This doesn't make sense.

(--Unfortunetly, my pH pen died recently, haven't got around to getting new one.)

experiment! This one should be doable, I've got lime but no ph testing equipment, but someone should have both those!

text book theory or not, it's chemistry, chemistry does not change.
Your limestone may not be pure is 1st thought.

Johnei said:

text book theory or not, it's chemistry, chemistry does not change.
Your limestone may not be pure is 1st thought.

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Chemistry does change, just like everything else, when you add variables. Science in a test tube is a lot different than science in a bag of dirt. Like I said before. I know that the lime a stabilizer for PH, but that doesn't change the fact that my ph skyrockets when I add too much.

So I checked the bag to see if it is pure lime, and it is, but it is hydrated lime. I did not realize that and I don't know what the difference is.
What I have used in the past was horticultural grade pulverized lime. Is it the same thing?

Hydrated lime, if I'm not mistaken, has pH above 10 or 12 or something like that.. and can drive pH up like crazy if used too much which is probably what has happened for you. I remember this from years ago when first going organic researching what I needed, I'm pretty sure hydrated lime is some serious strong shit and not what we want to use unless you have very specific soil tests done and know exactly how much is needed. This has got to be your issue. Hydrated lime I think is only one element, calcium, wheras dolomitic limestone is Ca and Mg. Don'\t quote me on this, just going by memory, I remember lots warning about the hydrated lime so I never used it. There is another type or two of liming agents that can be used, but was also cautioned against them compared to dolomite, I can't remember what they are.

just found this for you.. yeah, my memory was working in this instance, this guy pretty much nailed it.
Also more info all over that thread... hope this helps grow bro.
https://www.rollitup.org/t/ph-of-dolomite-lime.174801/#post-2265013

When organic matter breaks down the first thing it gives off is ammonia.... which is quite high on the pH scale. So you could get a short term swing down, but it will go up again.

Ok so now we can all agree that the problem is high PH and it is caused by the lime we can hopefully move on to the questions I had =p

If you were me how would you proceed?? Is it a lost cause for the plants that are budding or would you make some sort of effort? I took one that is still vegging and pruned the root ball down to a 4''x4'' cube and shoved it in some fresh promix. Hopefully that will work so I can follow suit with the rest of my vegging plant, but I'm pretty skeptical about doing anything drastic to the flowering ones...as I'm typing this I am kind of talking myself in to just chopping the fuckers and throwing some more in there.

The reason I ask is because I know the damage done to the foliage is irreparable at this point. The plant will continue to cannibalize the damaged leaves and will eventually drop them. Even if I correct the problem successfully right now this is still true. I just don't know how well the buds will grow with pretty much no leaves haha

Yeah, this is tricky problem to repair when the hydrated lime is mixed into the soil, Only thing that comes to mind is the pure peat moss, but how to effectively apply it etc.. you know what i mean.. sry man.. don't really know.
edit-- maybe without doing any root damage, replant into a mainly peat moss mix in bigger pot??

(..and you're right, you did just say lime, and not specifically dol.lime in your first post, my first question to you should of been, what type of lime are we talkin about and not just assume dolomite. good luck man. after root prune and replant, I suggest you feed them nice balanced mix with good amount of P in there to help roots regrow quicker, just quick thought.)

Gimlett said:

The reason I ask is because I know the damage done to the foliage is irreparable at this point. The plant will continue to cannibalize the damaged leaves and will eventually drop them. Even if I correct the problem successfully right now this is still true. I just don't know how well the buds will grow with pretty much no leaves haha

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In my opinion and its only a semi educated guess at this point as there is nothing for me to visually see. To answere your question appropriately one would in fact need to see how badly the defoliation indeed is and how filled out,big,ect the flowers are at the moment. Even if you were to wave your magic hand over it and the issue was solved overnight, the damage done will likely stay damaged but the newer growth may perhaps be in better shape. However in saying that it seems as though this plant/plants have taken a substantial hit and depending upon the severity it will definitely impact yield and all the other aspects.

BRAINFART!

Fulvic acid chelating power! pH becomes less important and nutrients can be uptaked regardless of pH as the fulvic molecule sucks nutrients into it's tiny molecule and gets into the plant through cell walls.

Man, every now and then I have a really great crop and I get all full of myself, then the universe smacks me back down in to my place with something like this on the next grow...You would think I would learn. But in my defense, I have been using this stuff for months with no problems and I had no idea about hydrated lime, so I guess it was just a matter of time before this happened.

I couldn't remember if I had given them lime yet so I decided it wouldn't hurt to do it again....boy was I wrong! That is how this all started.

Growing outside is a lot easier...pretty much set it and forget it around here if growing outdoors.
Being responsible for every aspect of a plant's life is harder than I thought! Maybe I'll go organic once this ProMix is all gone

Thanks a ton, you guys, for your support.

Jimmy Sparkle said:

In my opinion and its only a semi educated guess at this point as there is nothing for me to visually see. To answere your question appropriately one would in fact need to see how badly the defoliation indeed is and how filled out,big,ect the flowers are at the moment. Even if you were to wave your magic hand over it and the issue was solved overnight, the damage done will likely stay damaged but the newer growth may perhaps be in better shape. However in saying that it seems as though this plant/plants have taken a substantial hit and depending upon the severity it will definitely impact yield and all the other aspects.

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I'll get some pictures up before I do anything. I'm completely on the fence so maybe you guys will have some insight.