organic lime

[sam604]

Anybody ever use espoma organic garden lime in moss.

[voyager]

Espoma Organic Garden Lime is pelletized dolomite.

If you have a need to turn a planting medium more basic then, dolomite is a good slow acting mineral that can be used to accomplish this.
It has both calcium and magnesium in it.

"Dolomitic lime is a rock. It is calcium magnesium carbonate, CaMg(CO3)2. It has about 50% calcium carbonate and 40% magnesium carbonate, giving approximately 22% calcium and at least 11% magnesium."

Calling it organic is nothing more than a marketing ploy.

[RJSquirrel]

when they attach 'organic' to anything they can charge more for it bec we think its especial

[sam604]

Thanks voyager

[ALToronto]

Well, technically it is organic because it has some carbon in it. That's the chemical definition. All plastics are organic, too.

This is to distinguish from inorganic lime, which is just Calcium Oxide (CaO). No carbon - not organic. If you put CaO in your moss, you would kill it with a very small amount, since as soon as CaO is mixed with water, it becomes Ca(OH)2, a weak base that nonetheless will send your pH through the roof. It doesn't take much to get to 12 and higher.

[sam604]

Thanks AL, for the reply.That what I wanted to know.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Lime broadly refers to materials containing significant calcium.

Products marketed as garden lime are usually derived from limestone or dolomitic limestone (calcium carbonate or calcium magnesium carbonate). While they do contain carbon in the chemical structure, metallic carbonates are historically excluded from classification as organic compounds, as are a few other types of simple carbon-containing compounds.

As others have stated, the "organic lime" description is strictly for marketing purposes.

[Ray]

Now that we've beaten up "organic" lime sufficiently, may I ask what makes you think you need to add it at all?

Some folks freak out when they see low pH, but never ask things like "Is it really too low?", "What is the reason for that pH?", "Am I testing the correct solution?", "Are my plants getting enough calcium without adding it?", or consider that alkalinity is far more important of a concern than pH.

For example, citric acid is often added to powdered fertilizers to enhance their solubility, and it can result in a really low solution pH. Once that solution gets into the potting media though, being such a weak acid, its effects can be easily overcome, and the "pour through" - a much better indicator - will be fine.

[sam604]

I use rainwater and a buddyof mind, suggests that I use the lime in my water before I water.But I was unsure about that, so thanks for the replys.We were talking about stress from the summertime heat, that what he uses on his roses during the springtime. Never heard anybody using lime for heat stress , just to raise the ph.But he has really beautiful roses.From the replys, not going to use the lime

[Ray]

Roses and orchids are totally different creatures, with different nutritional demands.

There has been some evidence that stresses applied to plants can affect Ca++ content of cells, but not that applying calcium reduced stress.

Now that we know you use a pure water supply, I will agree that calcium is needed, but not specifically for raising the pH, as orchids like acidity.

Calcium needs to be given to actively growing plants as it is a critical nutrient that is not easily translocated from other parts of the plant. It is usually used in conjunction with magnesium, so it doesn't hurt to apply them together. I do so by constant application of very low doses of fertilizer that contain them (MSU RO or K-Lite, for example), rather than guessing at single-component additions.