Not sure. If you use just the lime, then yes. But the whole idea of using the witch's brew is to get IMMEDIATE Calcium to the plant. Since you didn't have ANY Ca in your soil to begin with, that's why i suggested it.

Always pretty easy to correct lack of Mg... look for the signs, and if need be, use some epsoms. Calcium, on the other hand, is a different story --- you want it from the beginning, because most forms of it(lime, bone meal, eggs shells, etc) take quite a while to break down and make available to the plant.

Kevin

They will only get Calcium.
But you can simply add Epsom salt when you make a solution.

I have made my own witches brew too ; I add about 2 TBS per gallon of water. You can further add 1 TBS of Epsom salt to it as well.

I'll add some to the brew next time I feed them. My plants are looking better Kevin but I found aphids on a few of the plants yesterday. I'm going to get some neem oil and Murphys oil soap this week. I also noticed in the soil of all my plants tiny bugs that are really fast moving, I've seen them in the soil of my garden but haven't paid any attention to them. I haven't seen them on the plants just in the soil.
Thanks for the advice
Randal

Blasts of water will usually keep aphids at bay. Just gotta do it every 3-4 day for a couple weeks.

In the soil ---Ants? fungus gnats?

Where there's aphids, there's a good chance of ants. If they're fungus gnats, you're overwatering.

Kevin

be careful with the oils/soap if temps are hot and plants are in full sun. I can't say for sure but, I believe it contributed to quite a few buds dropping on my plants.. I'm only using water now to clean foliage of aphids. Now I am working on the ants..... Which seem to be the major propagators of the aphids.

dj

I've never heard of fungus gnats I'll have to Google it and see. I seen them in the soil when I was tilling it and just thought they were some kind of bug that was living off the plant matter in the soil since it's close to a horse chestnut tree. The nuts, hulls, and leaves fall there and have for years so theirs alot in the soil. I seen ants out there to..
I'm trying not to water but once a week but it's going into the triple digits tomorrow so I might have to before the Friday.

Yo Randall, If a those nuts, hulls and leaves fill the soil I would think that they will hold a lot of moisture..... gut says they give major nutrients (good or bad) as well. you might want to try shielding them (soil for sure and maybe foliage)a bit in the intense heat and see if you can avoid overwatering. lower leavese turning yellow can be a sign of too much agua.

Some leaf drooping in the day seems totally o.k. from what I have read and experienced as long as they bounce right back when given shade, so don't stress to much if they look a little down.

dj

This post was edited by djoy on Tue, Jul 8, 14 at 0:25

If you're only watering once a week, I doubt it's fungus gnats. try to get some pics.

Triple digits? Time to mulch if you haven't already. And shade cloth or sheets work wonders during the midday scorchers.

Kevin

I Googled fungus gnats I think they are bigger than what I have but I'll try to get a picture. I dug my pepper plants up a few weeks ago and planted in 5 gallon buckets I'm wondering it the bugs got in through the drain holes. I mulched already trying to control moisture.
Thanks all.
Randal