NO!!!
Ammonical nitrogen, or NH4, is a cationic form of nitrogen that gets "captured" by the soil, so it doesn't leech out like Nitrate does. It will not help your CEC problems......but it will make them worse!!!!
It's not at all the same as Calcium Nitrate, which has a strong Cation, Ca++ and Nitrate, NO3.
As for pH.....that's usually not a problem unless a person has added way too much organic material to the mix....which is usually the case. And no amount of pH up or down is going to solve that problem. The soil is much too powerful a buffer to be overcome with a few drops of Phosphoric acid or Potassium Hydroxide. Also, Ammonical nitrogen lower soil pH!!! You're probably already at like a pH 6....which is too low. Next time you make soil, run it by me first and I can help you avoid these problems.
As for dolomite, don't use it unless you're going to throw this batch of soil out and never use it again. The high magnesium levels in dolomite compete with calcium. The calcium occupies the same "niche" in the soil that nitrogen usually does....so it does inhibit nitrogen uptake, basically causing it to release into the air.
A far, far better solution is to amend the soil with proper minerals at the beginning and not worry about this stuff.
In the meantime, calcium nitrate will help you. If you want to mineralize let me know and I'll try to steer you in the right direction.
There are many methods/traditions out there. Our food supply has never been in worse shape and pesticide use is at an all-time high. That's really all you need to know about commercial agriculture. I'm running back to nature.
howdy brother, i feel ya bro- we all want to help in any way we can by supplying good quality MMJ.
if organics is the way you want to go then CAN and other similar ferts wont be for you as they are synthetic-OBVIOUSLY... BUT if you wished to correct issues within your soil as they occur then its good to know what can work and what wont... whether it be organic, conventional or what-ever type of growing. it really isnt necessary to complicate things
correct, the OBVIOUS solution is prevention! using a well balanced, nutritive soil to begin with.. base saturation of your soil should be an obvious issue to be mindful of, once these conditions are met then any need to use ferts or nutrients drops dramatically. then none of this would occur or any issues arise that resemble nutrient deficiency etc.. your plants needs should be well catered for!
commercial agriculture and horticulture has come a LONG way since the days of strip growing where soils werent being replenished or revitalized between crops, as well as the types of sprays being used.. ive seen the transition from old school 'dont give a fuck' approaches to present day 'give a fuck' approaches. but at the end of the day it is quite simple- larger hort and agricultural companies cant afford bad publicity with their produce, ESPECIALLY EXPORT where the standards and requirements are VERY VERY STRICT!!! so are now employing much safer, 'cleaner' methods of growing.. not organic but not what they used to be, thats for certain- in my experience anyways. this is of course open to abuse like most things and many large companies still dont care about sustainability, renewability etc
lets keep one thing clear, plants DONT CARE where their nutrients come from, they take nitrogen from any source.. whether it be calcium ammonium nitrate or leprechaun urine, after the microbes within the soil convert the N containing compound to N2 they simply wont care. ('nitrogen fixation' shows an interesting relationship between Nitrogen and ammonia and how it is necessary in nature and synthetically)... HOWEVER like many ferts and nutes you must be aware of HOW MUCH TO USE and WHEN... use this sparingly and as with D-lime limit its use to ONCE. that should be more than sufficient.
the biggest aspect to organics or chem ferts has definitely got to be water solubility. in water it becomes part of the soil, the ground and the surface water, thus it becomes available to plants. at a glance the main differences between organic and synthetic are the way they are taken up by the plant. Organic ferts for the most part are in the inorganic form requiring biological and chemical action to make them available to the plant- which leads on to decomposition(BIOLOGICAL) and seperation(CHEMICAL)... which produces a fairly stable form of nutrient for the plant. this obviously supports the grow commune within the soil too.
synthetic ferts and nutes rely more on the solubility to become 'plant available' where so much depends on temperature, moisture and incorporation with the soil. used in balance and correctly they wont detract from soil at all but should compliment it.
CAN(calcium ammonium nitrate) provides a RAPID SHOT of available nitrogen which initiates rapid growth BUT too much of this can result in high carbohydrate levels and low proteins.. which can invariably lead to other issues and the plants ability to take up other nutrients and trace elements.. hence the need to observe limits when looking to apply any chemical or synthetic nutrient(although most are made in a balance to compliment each other). CAN wont harm any of your soil community what-so-ever if USED CORRECTLY. to prove my point:
"Most of the nitrogen taken up by plants is from the soil in the forms of NO3–, although in acid environments such as boreal forests where nitrification is less likely to occur, ammonium NH4+ is more likely to be the dominating source of nitrogen. Amino acids and proteins can only be built from NH4+ so NO3– must be reduced"("teaming with microbes pg 49) so,
YES plants have an amazing ability to adapt- as does the human body.
there is this myth that synthetic nutes will kill soil life, this is certainly not the case and has been studied to death. what DOES cause the soil to die is not adding organic material/matter to the soil. and this is what i am saying, use this with organic matter/soil as a compliment, when needed.. and it will do your plants and soil no harm at all, if used correctly(i cannot emphasize that enough) but this is something any grower should be aware of at some stage. the company i work for, as do MANY others in this area, rely on 3 tests to ascertain when the fruit is ready to harvest.. one of these is
BRIX testing, as well as pressure testing and testing fruit sugar levels. our produce is of the highest quality- it HAS TO BE as 90% of it is exported, if our methods of growing and harvesting etc doesnt meet strict criteria they wont be accepted-SIMPLE(the same can be said for growing cannabis). it doesnt make any sense to utilize ferts and nutrients that are going to create an inferior fruit or product.. or perpetuate an image of being unfriendly to the environment, this only detracts from the whole point and looses the company millions of dollars, so WHY use methods which arent going to add to sustainability and being able to perpetuate HEALTHY growing conditions that last years(decades)?? im not talking out of a hole in my arse dude, its quite fucking simple LOL
the point made about dolomite lime with calcium inhibiting Nitrogen is tenuous at best IMHO. the main issue would be that it is a HIGH ratio of calcium/magnesium and as such creates excessive amounts of magnesium in your soil?! as being high in magnesium(generally one can expect a ratio of 2:1 calcium/lime, ideally 7:1(sandy soils) or 10:1(clay dominant soils)) one can expect toxicity issues, as with any mineral..
the antagonism between calcium and magnesium isnt as easy to discern at first glance- there are many studies to show this and largely comes down to the different solubilities of magnesium carbonate (MgCO3) and calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in the dolomite.
Magnesium deficiency symptoms may be associated with an antagonistic relationship between magnesium ions (Mg2+) and other cations such as hydrogen (H+), ammonium (NH4 +), calcium (Ca2+), potassium (K+), aluminum (Al3+), or sodium (Na+). The competition of magnesium with other cations for uptake ranges. These cations can compete with magnesium for binding sites on soil colloids, increasing the likelihood that magnesium will be
leeched from soils.-so this can become a non issue albeit tenuous to begin with. i dont see any evidence to show that adding dolomite lime to your soil in CORRECT doses will inhibit Nitrogen uptake at all. an added advantage of using CAN is that the ammonium supresses magnesium! and with calcium nitrate mangesium levels are increased!!
this just goes to show that a combination of dolomite lime and calcium ammonium nitrate can work VERY well together
the main issue here is USING DOLOMITE LIME CORRECTLY, as an aside it is also a good carrier for phosphates allowing a steady availability to your plants. calcitic lime(calcium carbonate) is a good alt as it is very low in magnesium if magnesium is indeed an issue(and often a calcium/mag ratio of 6:1)- if one is going to recycle the soil to use in continuous growing.. magnesium levels will be something to consider as will other minerals, hence a soil test would be ideal. not disimilar to the human body where some nutrients aid or hinder the absorption of others... if magnesium deficiencies are showing in your plant then it stands to reason that there is a magnesium deficiency in your soil also(OR def due to high acidity or an imbalance in another nutrient resulting in signs of def.), if you need to address ph issues then simply LIMIT your use of a dolomite lime application to ONCE- soil testing is really the only way to be SURE of the base saturation of your soil and how much you can limit yourself to lime applications, also with regards to your soils cal mag levels... so dolomite lime is ideal if you know that your soils calcium levels are low.. if you know that your mag levels are low and as a result know that your ph levels are also too acidic(boron is a good synergist) BUT that is NOT to say there arent other options! adding gypsum to your soil will bring ph down... adding soybean meal, corn meal and other grain meals will add N to your soil.. i could go on for pages about organic alts and ammendments.. the literature available is so abundant and as mentioned starting with a well built soil ammended with good organic matter etc will see you right and you shouldnt even see issues like this arise.. but let me be clear- synthetic nutrients used with organics can do wonders and wont harm your soil(incl. soil community) or your plants AT ALL if used correctly.. if anything a good combination will only ADD to your plants and soil-
EVERYTHING IN BALANCE