Lime

Hi chums. It appears my soil is quite acidic. I therefore intend to add lime and to this end I've been trying to find a source for GROUND Limestone. Apparently this is better than Hydrated Lime. Maybe someone could explain why ? Does anyone know of a source ?
Cheers...freddy.

 

Separate issue (sure you know this but ...) don't apply lime at the same time as manure - the two have an averse reaction.

 

Freddy - I know very little about it. But I suspect the reason is that as ground limestone is not soluble in water, it acts slowly and over a period of time, by contrast Calcium Hydroxide (hydrated lime) is much more soluble and consequently much faster acting and therefore more dangerous.

Do you know how acidic your soil is? My natural inclination is to be a bit wary of adding lime material. It is difficult to mix it uniformly into the soil, especially if you already have plants in there. So you could end up with both acid and lime pockets.

This had some relavent comments - http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~blpprt/acidity2_review.html but there must be many more sites - I didn't Google very far

 

Hi Freddy

I limed the garden approx. 18 months ago on the area where the chickens free range.If you don't know, chicken droppings can be very acidic and in effect sour the ground. The lime neutralises this, "sweetening" the soil.

I bought a packet of it in the GC but then I didn't have a lot of space to do (about 12foot x 12foot)

 

Hi folks, thanks for the replies. Peter, according to a reading I took using an electronic thingy, my soil has a PH of around 5.0. On it's own I wouldn't have trusted this reading, but things are adding up. For instance, I have a Camellia that's going great guns. On the other hand, my beetroot is failing AGAIN. So all in all, I'm sure my soil is quite acidic. I would assume that Granulated Lime is Hydrated ? (I have some of that already)
Cheers...freddy.

 

Hi. Was it Ground Limestone ?

 

Sorry, pass:o

I've no idea, but I know other "back garden" poultry keepers use similar and it was recommended to me by others.

 

Hi,
Go to a farmers merchants and buy ordinary lime for the garden in 25 kg bags, much cheaper this way than in the 1 kg boxes that most gc's offer.

As for being dangerous,it certainly is toxic to lime haters, but is perfectely safe to use normally.

Water is also dangerous, if you are daft enough to try to keep your head in it!

In my allotment I have terrible problems with clubroot, I have stopped spreading lime over the area I intend growing brassicias in, Instead I spread about a half carton of lime into and around the planting holes, this way I do not have nearly the same problem with the club root!

And the brassicias thrive, with their roots in contact with the lime!
And I use a great deal less lime add save money as well!

Cheers

 

"In my allotment I have terrible problems with clubroot,"

I'm sure you know this, but I have read that growing them on in relatively large pots (I'm guessing, 4" or 5" perhaps?) and then planting out helps - the rootball more established before it comes into contact with the clubroot soil I think.

 

Yes i do know about it thanks, and I do grow mine on in all sizes of pots,though not as large as 5's!

Funny thing, even though I practise crop rotation, some years are less of a problem than others, no matter what position they are planted in.

The club root appeared in my neighbours plot some years ago,only him and me appear to have it, but he is a bit of an ostrich, he says he does not have it, it is only lack of water that is wrong with his plants.

Cheers!

 

Freddy, You can get hydrated in 25kg bags from any builders merchant.

For ground limestone you would need to visit a local quarry with a trailer, when I was working in agriculture we used to lime the fields and I would pick up 8 ton loads from the local quarry with the tractor, £15 per ton!!!

 

Got a feeling Hydrated lime has been banned, you certainly can`t use it for horticultural use. It should be possible to buy 25k bags of garden lime at the local gc.

 

Hi Paul. Regular Lime (hydrated) I can get quite easily from a local allotment association. It's just that the longevity of the ground stuff appeals to me.
Cheers...freddy.

 

Hydrated Lime isn't the same as garden lime ? Oh :o

 

Nope, hydrated lime is what used to be called whitelime, and was used for painting walls. It was brilliant on the garden but it is now illegal to use for horticultural use.