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Lime...
Mar 20, 2014 20:21:36 GMT -5
Post by daylilydude on Mar 20, 2014 20:21:36 GMT -5
Talked to some gardening friends and almost everyone of them spread lime every year without even taking a soil sample... doesn't make sense to me, but they have beautiful and productive gardens every year, what am I missing, won't it build up over time?
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materman
Pro Member
Posts: 216
Zone:: 6b
Joined: April 2013
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Lime...
Mar 20, 2014 20:40:26 GMT -5
Post by materman on Mar 20, 2014 20:40:26 GMT -5
They say that calcium rarely get so unbalanced that it starts limiting crop production, but a PH test is pretty cheep. And throwing a PH out of whack would be my bigger concern. But if you guys got clay like we have in places up hear, it seems to always need it. Calcium in the form of lime spread on at a certain ratio does not mean your plants have that much calcium available. For it is a slow release nutrient. Just my thoughts, Materman
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swamper
Pro Member
Posts: 208
Joined: March 2011
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Post by swamper on Mar 23, 2014 10:09:43 GMT -5
pH too low results in cation exchange sites being dominated by H+ and Al2+ which means lower fertility. Lime is used to remedy this. There are many types of lime. Typical garden lime (with or without dolomite) is fairly slow to dissolve and fairly benign. Be careful with hydrated or burnt lime, or wood ashes as they dissolve much more rapidly and can cause problems more easily.
I'd recommend a soil test especially if you're growing greens or peppers. Tomatoes don't seem to mind PH creeping up over 7 as much. In any case having high soil organic and colloid content can mitigate some problems or deficiencies in the mineral fraction.
The problem you might have is that when pH rises over 7, some micronutrients may have low solubility, so might not be as plant available. Boron copper or zinc deficiencies are common in hi pH soils, especially if the texture is sandy. Soil parent materials and climate play a big role in soil chemistry. Northern USA may have glaciated soil parent material which is less weathered and yields more minerals on weathering. Eastern USA has much more precipitation so calcium and carbonates don't tend to hang around as long. Anion chemistry can be complicated, but too much of one anion like carbonate might limit availability of other essentials anions especially phosphate. If you live east of the Mississippi it's safe to assume liming is warranted if it's been years since application, but liming every year might not be advisable, as it takes more work and time to lower PH back down once you've gone too high. Soil tests are cheap in many cases free from local Ag experiment stations or universities, and PH meters or test kits are easy to come by too.
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mjc26250
Junior Member
Posts: 36
Joined: April 2014
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Lime...
Apr 16, 2014 8:02:46 GMT -5
Post by mjc26250 on Apr 16, 2014 8:02:46 GMT -5
How much, when and whether or not it is being tilled/dug in also matter...
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Lime...
Jan 21, 2015 6:10:29 GMT -5
Post by daylilydude on Jan 21, 2015 6:10:29 GMT -5
Is it ok to spread and till this in a couple of months ahead of first planting?
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jan 21, 2015 9:32:38 GMT -5
It's a good idea to apply lime in advance. Lime needs time to start working.
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Lime...
Jan 22, 2015 13:22:52 GMT -5
Post by paulf on Jan 22, 2015 13:22:52 GMT -5
If I added lime where my garden is there would be nothing growing, or not much anyway. My pH is already between 8.2 and 8.5. Those who indiscriminately apply lime and have nice growth have been lucky. A soil test or at least a good pH test is absolutely necessary when applying any chemical or additive to soil.
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