[adri]

Hi

I've sent off for a PH tester and depending on the results would like to hear your opinions on whether it's too late to lime my plot?

I have yet to dig/rotavate.

Many thanks

Nick

[adri]

Anyone?

[DD.]

Many of our members fine it irritating and rude when someone "BUMPS" their own post back to the top of the forum again, particularly after a short period.  Please bear this in mind and if your topic really has not been answered to your satisfaction try to rephrase the question or expand upon it !

[crh75]

Autumn is best time to use lime but I think anytime up to 2 weeks before planting will work.  

Do remember that PH testers are very in accurate, so don't put too much faith in the results you get.  If it is not roughtly neutral splash out on a proper test where you send off soil samples before you do anything.

Personally unless you are having difficulties with certain plants (eg brasicas) I wouldn't bother.  Organic matter will help make both acid and alkaline soils more neutral.  This would be my suggested "root".  

[8doubles]

When planting brassica`s out a lot of people add a dusting of lime to the hole to help stop clubroot.

[Shadrak]

It's not to late fine to add it in spring.

[crh75]

When planting brassica`s out a lot of people add a dusting of lime to the hole to help stop clubroot.

Yes I know people do, but it always seems a bit pointless to me. If you have club root you'll know and you can add lime to help.  If you have no problems with brasicas you don't have club root and if some infected soil/plants come onto your plot a bit of lime is not going to stop the infection taking hold.

On the otherhand, a bit of lime is said to help cabbages heart up.  But the lime will need to be completely neutralised before the acid loving plants get planted (no problem if it is just a dusting).

There is not a definite right and wrong, but I would be cautious of trying too change the soil too much.  If you aren't having a problems then why try and fix it just because an pH tester told you to.

[Aidy]

Liming is not just about altering the PH or using it in the battle of clubroot, it also sweetens the land up, allowing certain nutrients to be released.
Personally I always lime my brassica bed, every year and the results speak for themselves, they say cauli's are difficult to grow on very sandy soil, not on ours. Yes you can lime now, I did my bed last week. Everyone who limes on our site grow some fantastic brassicas. Clubroot is also rife on our site.

[sunshineband]

Many of our members fine it irritating and rude when someone "BUMPS" their own post back to the top of the forum again, particularly after a short period.  Please bear this in mind and if your topic really has not been answered to your satisfaction try to rephrase the question or expand upon it !

'cos of course we might all be out on our plots or at work mid afternoon 

[solway cropper]

There's also different types of lime, some of which are fast acting and some not. If you use a slow acting one in spring you won't see much benefit from it that season. Anyway, as others say...it depends what you want to grow. Heavily limed soil won't give you much of a tattie crop.

[Swing Swang]

Always lime my brassica beds, anytime from late autuem to early spring. Depends on when I manure though. Must admit that my primary reason for liming is because I'm on heavy clay and it helps to flocculate the soil rather than to prevent club root.

SS

[adri]

Hi

Thanks for the replies and apologies for the 'bump'.

Where might I get hold of the fast acting lime type at a reasonable price?  Garden centres almost always charge too much for everything...

Thanks in advance.

Nick

[Loubs]

My local 99p shop has small boxes of lime. Having always grown in containers up to now, I'm a bit new to having to treat my soil - always got away with fresh compost before  -  the lime I got looks a little too granular to me to be"dusting" anything - will be more of a scattering

Would I be right in assuming that the more granular it is, the slower acting? Or have a bought the dregs of something that a decent garden shop would turn their noses up at?

[adri]

I think for the size of my plot I'll be needing a full size bag from Wickes or somewhere...where to get though?

TIA

Nick

[Aidy]

I buy it 25kg at a time, this will last at least two seasons. On the grand scale of things it is not that expensive.