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central Missouri

The pH in my patch after the addition of large amounts of horse and sheep manure varies between 5.7 and 5.9. I know it's a little late to be adding lime but I haven't got my plants in the patch yet so I think I'll go ahead and add some. I found an article at
http://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/pub/fg/research/2004/lime/
that suggests lime at a rate of 1.25 tons per acre to raise pH 1 full point. This is about 57 pounds per 1000 if I did my math right. So for 4000 sq. ft. I would need 171 lbs total to raise my ph by .75 points. Now experience tells me (what little I have) that when I check my pH 6 months from now I'm not going to find an average of 6.55, but do you think I'm on the right track? Also, my Ca is at 1500 ppm and I'd like to have it over 3000 ppm.
Thanks, Mark

4/24/2006 6:48:27 PM

Puyallup, WA

Just add 200 lbs. Mix it in well. Pray a lot.

4/24/2006 8:21:38 PM

central Missouri

Just found this article right here on BP.com, don't know how I missed it earlier. It was written in 1997 but may still be valid if the substitution of pelletized lime for crushed lime does nothing other than speed up the process.
Mark

"A Short Essay on Soil pH By Hugh Wiberg"

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/nepga/ViewArticle.asp?id=29

4/29/2006 1:27:02 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Hugh's article is just as relevant today as when he wrote it.

The questions about grades comes up every year & is buried in these messages somewhere.

Simply:

The coarser lime is the slower it works. However the finer it is ground the more costly it is & the harder it is to handle & apply without it caking in the spreader or blowing in the wind.

So the best limes ate those that are milled as fine as talc & then pelletized. This is a process where the very finely ground limestone is turned in a drum with a binder & a small amount of moisture. Once the resulting balls are the right size, a drier sends hot air into the rotating drum to dry it. Then it is sized & bagged.

If the pH is way out, then the extra money spent on pelletized lime can pay off in a faster correction.

4/30/2006 12:42:09 AM