Raising the pH of my water/feed solution with dolomite lime?

I'm growing my plants indoors in soil. In the part of Europe where I live, I'm having a tough time finding "pH up" to add to my feed water. I'm looking for alternatives, other than baking soda (I read that baking soda is very bad for the plants). I've seen that some people use dolomite lime, but can I mix that into the water I use for feeding?

If I can mix the dolomite lime into the water, does anyone have any idea how much per liter to add in order to achieve a 0.5 increase in pH?

If anyone has any other suggestions besides the dolomite lime, please share! Thanks much.

Look for some "liquid silicon" aka potassium silicate.


This will Raise your pH and add some extra K to your feed too. It's great to use when flowering too.






J

Thanks jondamon. Forgive me for sounding stupid, but isn't potassium silicate a salt? I'm just afraid that could build up in the soil and prevent nute absorption.

Just premix the lime into your medium and forget about pH your solutions, thats for hydro...and most nutrients are salts...silica is a good thing for plants...

dk1978 said:

Thanks jondamon. Forgive me for sounding stupid, but isn't potassium silicate a salt? I'm just afraid that could build up in the soil and prevent nute absorption.

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However the 2ml you use to increase 30litres of water up by 0.4pH isn't going to be too detrimental.


J

Thanks - I really appreciate the help!

How about using calcium hydroxide? Is that safe long term?

It seems the easiest thing I can access is magnesium sulfate or calcium hydroxide. Either of those work?

dk1978 said:

It seems the easiest thing I can access is magnesium sulfate or calcium hydroxide. Either of those work?

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NO!

The silica is good stuff, I use it but not as a pH up Usually less than $15/qt. I use Pro Tekt from Dyna Gro, but there is a bunch of them.

Dolomite lime is ground up rock and doesn't really dissolve in water. Add it to your mix and not worry about pH+-. The lime will take care of it.

Wet

Hydrated lime spread over the top of the soil and watered in will act more quickly . Dolomite lime can be premixed into the soil I think at 1 tablespoon per gallon of soil . The dolomite lime is a longer term - slower acting way of dealing with it . I do both .

You just have to be careful with the hydrated lime, you can burn roots with it...

Thanks for all your help. In looking around online, it seems that hydrated lime is actually another name for calcium hydroxide. As long as I'm not too liberal with how much I use, it sounds like I'll be okay. It's just impossible to find the silica where I am.

If anyone knows, can you advise how much of the hydrated lime to use?

It's hard to believe you live in an area that has internet but does not have a postal service.

You'd be surprised what passes for "postal service" in some places. The issue is that I need to get the girls some nutes this weekend because they're starting to show a bit of a nitrogen deficiency (minor), and I don't really want to wait 2 weeks for mail from the states.

dk1978 said:

You'd be surprised what passes for "postal service" in some places. The issue is that I need to get the girls some nutes this weekend because they're starting to show a bit of a nitrogen deficiency (minor), and I don't really want to wait 2 weeks for mail from the states.

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You could always dilute urine in water for a little N.

1 part urine to 10 parts water.


If needed.

J

dk1978 said:

You'd be surprised what passes for "postal service" in some places. The issue is that I need to get the girls some nutes this weekend because they're starting to show a bit of a nitrogen deficiency (minor), and I don't really want to wait 2 weeks for mail from the states.

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Why do you have to buy from the states? are you trying to say there is not a single online pet shop in your country? :S

Hmm... pet shop? As in dogs and cats? That's where I can find the silica??

dk1978 said:

Hmm... pet shop? As in dogs and cats? That's where I can find the silica??

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No, that's where you can find ph down, Pretty much any and every pet shop will carry ph up and down in their fishy fish section. I simply don't accept that there is not an online shop in your country which sells ph up and down. Tell em the country you're from and i'll go find one for you assuming i can get past the language barrier

Haha... okay, give Bulgaria a shot

I am having a hard time uderstanding your alphabet

http://www.growshop-bg.com/regulatori-ph-/ph-down-grow-05l.html

There's one that seems like it's the right kind of thing though.