Great discussion buds... approaching living soil from a scientific basis can only help demystify the concept and bring better understanding....:Sharing One:
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A4's Only Organic Thread
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DubV
Keeper of the Green
Late to the dolomite lime discussion but I wanted to add this quote from a book called The Ideal Soil. I personally never use any lime product and stick to gypsum flour for the most part :check: Plants look real good my brother 
It's still a little-known fact that the Calcium to Magnesium ratio determines how tight or loose a soil is. The more Calcium a soil has, the looser it is; the more Magnesium, the tighter it is, up to a point. Other things being equal, a high Calcium soil will have more Oxygen, drain more freely, and support more aerobic breakdown of organic matter, while a high Magnesium soil will have less Oxygen, tend to drain slowly, and organic matter will break down poorly if at all. In a soil with Magnesium higher than Calcium, organic matter may ferment and produce alcohol and even formaldehyde, both of which are preservatives. If you till up last years corn stalks and they are still shiny and green, you may have a soil with an inverted Calcium/Magnesium ratio. On the other hand, if you get the Calcium level too high, the soil will lose all its beneficial granulation and structure and the excessive Calcium will interfere with the availability of other nutrients. If you get them just right for your particular soil, you can drive over the garden and not have a problem with soil compaction.
It's still a little-known fact that the Calcium to Magnesium ratio determines how tight or loose a soil is. The more Calcium a soil has, the looser it is; the more Magnesium, the tighter it is, up to a point. Other things being equal, a high Calcium soil will have more Oxygen, drain more freely, and support more aerobic breakdown of organic matter, while a high Magnesium soil will have less Oxygen, tend to drain slowly, and organic matter will break down poorly if at all. In a soil with Magnesium higher than Calcium, organic matter may ferment and produce alcohol and even formaldehyde, both of which are preservatives. If you till up last years corn stalks and they are still shiny and green, you may have a soil with an inverted Calcium/Magnesium ratio. On the other hand, if you get the Calcium level too high, the soil will lose all its beneficial granulation and structure and the excessive Calcium will interfere with the availability of other nutrients. If you get them just right for your particular soil, you can drive over the garden and not have a problem with soil compaction.
A4
11th Year Anniversary
Awesome man and thanks for posting that. I just read that exact thing by a different author this past weekend. I knew the recommended ratio but I always assumed it had something to do with nutrient uptake. I can absolutely testify to that as my first batch of soil was like adobe and hard as a rock. I now attribute it to the Sul-Po-Mag I used and went overboard with trying to increase my potash levels. The plants grew fine but it was a PITA watering them. At one point, I filled a 30 gallon tote with water and put the entire container in it to try and get some absorption.
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Just an FYI regarding gypsum. A lot of it today comes from power plant scrubbers. They spray a finely ground limestone slurry into the stack gas from coal fired boilers. The limestone reacts with sulfur compounds in the stack gas releasing CO2 and turns the calcium carbonate into calcium sulfate (gypsum). The power plants can then sell it for wall board or other gypsum uses include agriculture. Depending on the scrubber style some heavy metals from the coal can sneak into the gypsum
DubV
Keeper of the Green
Excellent point brother! I source my gypsum flour from a company that has it tested before selling and is mined in Colorado :tiphat: Also A4 the dolomite lime in the long run will cause way more issues than helping in all the literature I have read. Extremely over used and will eventually throw the soil out of balance unless your soil is tested regularly and calcium is brought back in balance like yours :Sharing One:
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I can vouch for excess magnesium issues with dolomite over time. Our farm has excess magnesium level due to years of former owners use of it. We only use high calcium lime on the fields for that very reason
A4
11th Year Anniversary
The organics thread is finally taking off again. I have some Fire 99 that I have been sitting on for a month or two now and finally have enough soil to grow them out. This is 5 gallon pots with my new mix in the bottom and the top 6" of the pot has a 50/50 blend of new mix and promix. These will be vegging for another couple of weeks to get some height on then will go into flower. I actually have 6 plants total but forgot that I had already put one in the tent before I snapped pictures.
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Looking excellent man!! should be some sweet buds before too long man!!"AFN smoke out"
A4
11th Year Anniversary
Thanks EoF!
And a few shots of the ladies I have been testing the new soil with the past couple of months. These were put into 50/50 new mix and promix and are about 2 weeks into flower now. The pictures were taken about a week or so ago but they are all flowering now with straight water and no signs of deficiencies at all. If there aren't any signs of deficiencies in one gallon containers I believe it will be golden in larger containers. Super excited about this new mix. I think I have finally nailed it.
I will try to get some pictures of the flowering plants up tomorrow. They aren't the biggest, in the one gallons, but more than anything I wanted to get an idea of how they would fair in small pots.
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Dude that rocks man!!after how long? thats gotta feel stellar brotha man!! I excited to see em so their thing now!!should be killer!!! smooth buds again!!lol:Sharing One: Dude I still cant get over HOW good these organic buds fare when left to sit for a few months..OMG juust pure sexy in a jar man!! I turned a few onto a lil bit recently and they were just wwhhhhaaaattttssss thisss man!!lmfao!! I mean perfectness is really haaard to beat lol!!:Sharing One:
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