Dolomite

Why can't I find Dolomite anywhere?

It looks like The Home Depot carries it: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lilly-Miller-Soil-Sweet-40-lb-Dolomite-Lime-100099183/100152730

Terry,
Thank you for the response. I went to the Home Depot website and clicked on the the product. and It said it has been discontinued. It also shows not available for pickup anywhere in my area. I understand that it cannot be sold in some areas and it seems that everyone has discontinued it. It must be dangerous or something.

I found an article that indicated that you can make homemade dolomite with Borax and Epsom Salts, but I am not sure what proportions to use it in, in my boxes. The Earthbox site says 2 cups of dolomite to one of their boxes, but is dolomite the same strength as 2 parts Borax to 1 part Epsom salts? I don't want to burn my plants up or underfeed them.
Lily

Ahhh, sorry - I didn't drill down to see that it had been discontinued.

Dolomite lime is/was a fairly "hazardous" form of lime (you definitely don't want to inhale it.) I don't know about mixing borax and Epsom salts, but if you can find calcitic lime (typically available at feed stores and larger garden centers), you can mix it with Epsom salts - I've seen ratios online for creating an approximation to dolomitic lime.

I see you also posted in our container gardening forum - that's where I was going to recommend you head as a next-step, since that's where our Earth Box and other (brands and homemade) container gardeners tend to congregate.

I don't have EBs, but I do have two cedar raised beds. I cheat and simply use pre-mixed garden soil with some slow-release fertilizer for my crops that I plant in them.

Strange that yours shows discontinued as I bought some just last week at HD and it comes up on my Home depot search - Lily Miller - Soil Sweet.

That said, I do have some Earthboxes and just like Terry said about his containers I don't use it in them and never have. All the quality pre-mixed soil-less mixes come with lime already added. So if you can't find it, they are the best alternative.

Dave

Opps, sorry, Terry. I normally try to avoid using gender ID pronouns for just this reason. Slipped up this time.
Dave

No problem - I just figured I'd clear it up early on :-)

Dolomite (aka garden lime) is composed of calcium and magnesium carbonate. Generally, agricultural lime is calcium carbonate. Ideally, the Ca:Mg ratio in dolomite will be somewhere between 5:2 and 3:2, Ca:Mg. It's very widely available in the spring wherever fertilizer is sold. You can buy it in 50 lb bags or pay a 50 lb bag price for 6.75 lbs of the same product packaged by Espoma. It's available in powdered form or prilled. The prilled form is simply the powdered product mixed with a liquid binder to form a slurry. The slurry is then 'shot' from prilling towers where the slurry forms little balls and dries as it falls. The prilled product works better for broadcast application and reverts to it's powdered form as soon as it gets wet.

"I found an article that indicated that you can make homemade dolomite with Borax and Epsom Salts, but I am not sure what proportions to use it in, in my boxes. The Earthbox site says 2 cups of dolomite to one of their boxes, but is dolomite the same strength as 2 parts Borax to 1 part Epsom salts? I don't want to burn my plants up or underfeed them."

Please don't even consider trying this. Boron is a nutrient essential to normal growth, but plants use it in only minute quantities. The difference between deficiency levels and toxicity levels for boron is extremely small, so an extreme toxicity of boron is practically a given if you decide to go forward based on what you read.

Al

tapla,
I see you gave me the same advice about boron that I posted about in the container gardening forum. I appreciate that. In my search for dolomite I met a county agent who is an organic master gardener; she cautioned me about boron also.

But success!!! At my local Home Depot, dolomite is marketed as Epsoma Garden Lime. It is necessary to read the label to know that it has both calcium and magnesium in the correct ratio. The bags I bought have the exact proportion of calcium to magnesium (about 2 to 1) that tomatoes like. I saw a bag at Pikes that said it was garden lime but when I read the ingredients it was not the same. I have two five pound bags of the right stuff ready to use in my ten self-watering containers. Yes, I paid more for the Epsoma than $6 for a 20 pound bag of dolomite; but if that is available here I have not found it, and I am a happy gardener to have the Epsoma. Eighteen gallon containers need about a pound of the dolomite mixed into the top 3 to 4 inches of mix, and a strip of granular fertilizer.

Dave,
I actually called the Lilly Miller rep. in my area and was told that Soil Sweet was discontinued and they only had another product that had only the calcium in the mix. I don't know if that was just a regional discontinuation or not if it is still available in your area. My county extension told me it was not outlawed in Georgia, so I am confused why they discontinued it here.

Thanks for all the information.

Lily

The EB site has a list of products that can be used. I live in a very Alkaline area, nothing containing lime is sold around here, there just isn't enough demand. I have to go online to order it, but it works.