Wilson wrote:

I've recently purchased a 2.5KG bag of "Garden Lime" from Richgro. From
my experience so far, Lime is made of Calcium compounds and is a
flowing, white powder. With the stuff i have, not only is it not the
nice lime that i wanted, its not quite "powdered", is coarse, has some
strange black particles and what seems to be some sand in it. Shouldn't
have been a cheapskate and purchased the cheaper type...

Does anybody have any experience with this brand and this type of
"Lime"? Is it normal for it to be like this or should i go back to
Bunnings and get a refund?

I believe you got some "powdered limeSTONE". This is very common but
it is almost totally ineffective. It is simply ground up seashells and
they are very slow to disolve. After all, statues and fascades for
buildings are made out of limestone.

You really want lime, CaO. The anhydrous version is very caustic --
the kind of stuff the murderer gets rid of the body with! Or, more
commonly, what was used in outhouses. You can usually find hydrated
lime at tile supply stores. It's about $5 for a 50 lb bag.

Buy a pH test kit and use it before and a month after to measure the
difference.