Liming acidic soil before planting !!

[Mark Bolam]

19 minutes ago, markieg31 said:

 

Quite rough ground here. We have herbal leys that have needed re sowing, they were great but only last 5 years then some of the dominant grasses have taken over. So have to redo it. Well we have attempted to stitch in what has gone over time. Will see in the spring how successful that has been.  

Yes, it will never be a permanent solution, the pH will revert over time.

Lime definitely works for grass production though.

 

Forestry wise I think you’re more stuck with what you’ve got.

Hence sitka being the predominant tree up north because it will grow in sour ground.

[Muddy42]

You could try digging a hole bigger than you need and planting the tree inside a carboard box of your desired soil. Trim the cardboard to soil level and soon you wont notice its there and eventually it rots.  Once the root ball gets through the cardboard it will be big enough to cope with poor soil.

[Muddy42]

p.s. wood ash is an easy, cheap and often readily available source of alkali, plus other nutrients.  The soil around me is a bit acidic so I add some to the soil whenever I plant anything and thereafter occasionally dump a scoop at the base of smaller trees I'm growing.

[sime42]

Good point. Any idea how long the alkalinity takes to dissipate? I've been dressing various fruit trees and shrubs around the garden every time I empty the ash pan, about once a week on average. For the potash, to aid fruiting, not to address a soil acidity issue. 

 

Each tree/plant has probably had 1 or 2 pans every year for the last 5 years maybe. No adverse affects yet, but I'm just wondering if I need to ease off if the soil is getting more and more alkaline. I could test it I suppose but .........

 

 

[Muddy42]

1 hour ago, sime42 said:

Good point. Any idea how long the alkalinity takes to dissipate? I've been dressing various fruit trees and shrubs around the garden every time I empty the ash pan, about once a week on average. For the potash, to aid fruiting, not to address a soil acidity issue. 

 

Each tree/plant has probably had 1 or 2 pans every year for the last 5 years maybe. No adverse affects yet, but I'm just wondering if I need to ease off if the soil is getting more and more alkaline. I could test it I suppose but .........

 

 

sounds a bit much. Fruit trees like slightly acidic soil. How much is a stove pan - 2 or 3 kilos? I give fruit trees a spade full a year.  but who knows. Very difficult to prove what is too much.

[Steven P]

Fruit trees... if they are fruiting well then you are doing something right.

[Billhook]

There is an old lime kiln in  a chalk quarry nearby.  It may have been dug by the Romans initially as the Roman Road is not far away.  My four greats grandfather used to operate the kiln, most of the lime I think would have been used for building but some went on the fields.  I used to hear stories from old farm workers of their grandfathers spreading lime from the back of a wagon.  Not only was it terrible on the lungs in spite of wearing linen masks, but as they were standing in the stuff it felt as though their feet were on fire, as the lime sucked all the moisture out.   I am not too sure of the chemistry, there are many out there on Arbtalk who will correct me, but as I understand it  you burn the chalk in a kiln Chalk CaCO3 calcium carbonate, the CO2 burns away leaving quicklime CaO Calcium Oxide which they used for dead bodies in earthquake tragedies .  when CaO comes into contact with water you have slaked lime Calcium Hydroxide Ca(OH)2 + heat, which is how it ends up in the fields.