The soil on my tiny veg patch has become very acid through application
of garden compost over many years. The top surface has a green sheen
to it when dry which I assume to show an acid condition?

What do I do to quickly bring the condition to, say neutral?

I expect I will be told to add lime but how much to start with?

Merryterry2000 writes
The soil on my tiny veg patch has become very acid through application
of garden compost over many years.

I'd be surprised if the application of good garden compost would have
that effect.

The top surface has a green sheen
to it when dry which I assume to show an acid condition?

What do I do to quickly bring the condition to, say neutral?

I expect I will be told to add lime but how much to start with?


--
Kay

"Merryterry2000" wrote ...
The soil on my tiny veg patch has become very acid through application
of garden compost over many years. The top surface has a green sheen
to it when dry which I assume to show an acid condition?

What do I do to quickly bring the condition to, say neutral?

I expect I will be told to add lime but how much to start with?

You will need to test the pH, kits are available and there are also
electronic testers at about £14. Of course there are professional ones at
silly prices too.
When you have tested it and got a pH reading then you will have some idea
how much lime to spread on it to bring it back to neutral, pH7 .
We use a 25Kg bag of lime every year on our brassica bed.
--
Regards
Bob H
17mls W. of London.UK

"Merryterry2000" wrote in message
ups.com...
The soil on my tiny veg patch has become very acid through application
of garden compost over many years. The top surface has a green sheen
to it when dry which I assume to show an acid condition?

What do I do to quickly bring the condition to, say neutral?

I expect I will be told to add lime but how much to start with?

For a more in depth idea
http://tinyurl.com/2gdzmt

Merryterry2000 wrote:
The soil on my tiny veg patch has become very acid through application
of garden compost over many years. The top surface has a green sheen
to it when dry which I assume to show an acid condition?

What do I do to quickly bring the condition to, say neutral?

I expect I will be told to add lime but how much to start with?

This morning I gave mine 70g per sq.m of calcified seaweed
Raking it in afterwards.
It's better than lime.

Sam.

In article , K
writes
Merryterry2000 writes
The soil on my tiny veg patch has become very acid through application
of garden compost over many years.

I'd be surprised if the application of good garden compost would have
that effect.

The top surface has a green sheen
to it when dry which I assume to show an acid condition?


Sounds to me like the soil has been damp and you can see the mould/algae
that grew where the water stood?

--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

On 26 Mar, 19:44, sam wrote:
This morning I gave mine 70g per sq.m of calcified seaweed
Raking it in afterwards.
It's better than lime.

But it's not so good for the environment. Calcified seaweed might be
great as a fertilizer but it's damaging our oceans. Very unsustainable
and now banned by the soil association. An alternative would be Cal-
sea-feed - the same contents but made out of seaweed instead of the
calcareous (coral) marine algae.

"R" wrote in reply to

"Merryterry2000" who asked...
The soil on my tiny veg patch has become very acid through application
of garden compost over many years. The top surface has a green sheen
to it when dry which I assume to show an acid condition?

What do I do to quickly bring the condition to, say neutral?

I expect I will be told to add lime but how much to start with?

For a more in depth idea
http://tinyurl.com/2gdzmt
From that site this is of interest...
http://www.aglime.org.uk/technical05.htm

you need to do some maths to get to the small amounts needed in the usual
garden/allotment.
To help I list a few conversions.. :-)

multiply the Hectares figures by 0.4047 to get acres.
1 acre is 4840 sq yards.
1 sq Rod/Pole/Perch is 30.25 sq yards.(normal measurements used for
allotments)
1 Tonne is 1,000 Kg.
Normal GC bag contains 25 Kg.

So our brassica plot has a pH of about 5.6 and is just under a quarter of
the 7.5 Rods we use for veg and is silt/clay type so according to my maths I
need 52 Kg of lime.
That site also suggests a 4 year cycle so our 4 year crop rotation will be
OK as the plots get limed every 4 years, hopefully it won't need as much in
subsequent applications.

--
Regards
Bob H
17mls W. of London.UK