I concur with TImothy. Dolomitic lime is the ONLY choice for trying to
lower the pH. Price in NC is about 3 dollars per 40 or 50 lbs bag.


"Timothy" wrote in message
news:1098558235.1CP0NN+j6xhs1EohnPIDaA@teranews...
On Sat, 23 Oct 2004 00:18:36 +0000, William W. Plummer wrote:

As I have previously noted, "lime" is different from the pulverized
limeSTONE, sold as garden lime, in nurseries and big box stores. Statues
and building facades are made from limestone and do indeed yield to the
damage of acid rain and similar problems. But it takes centuries to
accumulate noticable damage.

If you want to amend your soil, real lime is what you want. Calcium
Oxide
is the chemical. It is very basic and will increase the pH of your soil
very quickly. If you get the anhydrous ("without water") version, it is
very, very corrosive and you must wear protective gloves, mask and
goggles. The hydrated ("with water") is available and can be spead
with
less danger on lawns, lilacs, asperagus and other plants requiring
"sweet"
soil.

I tried many concrete suppliers, looking for lime. None had it.
Finally,
I went to a ceramic tile supplier and they were able to sell me 50 lb
for
$5.25 .


I would recommend against this to anyone concidering this. It is very easy
to over lime with Calcium Oxide (and calcium hydroxide for that matter)
and you will end up with a whole heap of trouble with micro-nutrients.

Calcium Oxide is manufactured by heating limestone to drive off the
carbon. It is *very* caustic and very hard to apply correctly. It absorbs
water very quickly and has a habbit of turning into goo...

Calcium hydroxide is calcium oxide that had water added to it at the
factory. It is just as caustic as calcium oxide and just as much of a pain
to apply.

I've always used and recommended to all my clients to use dolomite lime.
Dolomitic lime contains calcium and magnesium which does a lot to help
repair ph damage to the plants. The dolomite lime will break down slower
and last much longer in the soil (up to 6 years per application). Besides
you don't have to wear a mask and pps to apply. I'd feel very sorry for
the person who applied calcium oxide and they were breathing in the dust.

--
Trees are like children, train them right when their young.....
or spend a lifetime trying to correct them.