In article ,
says...

In article ,
(Jim Jackson) writes:
|
| A good few years ago, I bought a supply of ground limestone
| for occasional liming use in the garden. I've attempted to find a source
| recently and drawn a blank form local garden centres. Is such stuff still
| available? I'm in West Yorks near Wakefield, if anyone else local can
| recommend a source.

Try builders' merchants. Lime is used for some mortars - it might be
slaked lime, so that would need to be added when nothing was growing.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

He should be able to get the right stuff from horticultural suppliers in
his area failing that LBS horticulture do it online mail order
www.lbsgardenwarehouse.co.uk
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

Charlie Pridham wrote:

He should be able to get the right stuff from horticultural suppliers in
his area

But so far I've failed...

failing that LBS horticulture do it online mail order
www.lbsgardenwarehouse.co.uk

wonderful - thanks for the reference.

Jim

In article ,
(Jim Jackson) writes:
| Charlie Pridham wrote:
|
| He should be able to get the right stuff from horticultural suppliers in
| his area
|
| But so far I've failed...
|
| failing that LBS horticulture do it online mail order
| www.lbsgardenwarehouse.co.uk
|
| wonderful - thanks for the reference.

Another possibility, which might be more convenient for some people,
is to dissolve builders' (slaked) lime in a watering can with the
cheapest possible vinegar (COLD) and water it on. That would
certainly be the fastest acting way of remedying lime deficiency.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
(Jim Jackson) writes:
Charlie Pridham wrote:

He should be able to get the right stuff from horticultural
suppliers in his area

But so far I've failed...

failing that LBS horticulture do it online mail order
www.lbsgardenwarehouse.co.uk

wonderful - thanks for the reference.

Another possibility, which might be more convenient for some people,
is to dissolve builders' (slaked) lime in a watering can with the
cheapest possible vinegar (COLD) and water it on. That would
certainly be the fastest acting way of remedying lime deficiency.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Does lime deficiency = calcium deficiency? Or is there a pH issue as well?

If you are just trying to add "neutralised" lime, could you do the same
thing with gypsum?

--
Jeff
(cut "thetape" to reply)

In article ,
"Jeff Layman" writes:
|
| Does lime deficiency = calcium deficiency? Or is there a pH issue as well?

Essentially, yes and yes!

Few plants give a damn about the pH within a very wide range, and
the actual problem of seriously acid soils is that it makes calcium
inaccessible to them. Similarly very alkaline ones makes iron
inaccessible. I don't know the details, but there is also an issue
with magnesium inaccessibility and perhaps other elements.

But a significant point of liming seriously acid soils is to change
the type of soil - plants don't need anywhere near as much calcium
as the recommended liming rates. That is often stated in terms of
adjusting the pH, but it's not that simple. Again, I don't know the
details.

Whatever they are, the fact is that it ISN'T the pH that matters, but
whether certain essential elements are bound up in inaccessible forms.
The chemistry of chelation is seriously complicated, even for experts,
and I have only an O-level!

| If you are just trying to add "neutralised" lime, could you do the same
| thing with gypsum?

Yes. That is, however, a bit more 'acidic' than calcium acetate.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
"Jeff Layman" writes:
|
| Does lime deficiency = calcium deficiency? Or is there a pH issue as well?

Essentially, yes and yes!

Few plants give a damn about the pH within a very wide range, and
the actual problem of seriously acid soils is that it makes calcium
inaccessible to them. Similarly very alkaline ones makes iron
inaccessible. I don't know the details, but there is also an issue
with magnesium inaccessibility and perhaps other elements.

But a significant point of liming seriously acid soils is to change
the type of soil - plants don't need anywhere near as much calcium
as the recommended liming rates. That is often stated in terms of
adjusting the pH, but it's not that simple. Again, I don't know the
details.

Whatever they are, the fact is that it ISN'T the pH that matters, but
whether certain essential elements are bound up in inaccessible forms.
The chemistry of chelation is seriously complicated, even for experts,
and I have only an O-level!

| If you are just trying to add "neutralised" lime, could you do the same
| thing with gypsum?

Yes. That is, however, a bit more 'acidic' than calcium acetate.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I wonder how this relates to the blue/red hydrangea issue. Are lime
hating plants necessarily acid loving?

In article ,
Stuart Noble writes:
|
| I wonder how this relates to the blue/red hydrangea issue.

I know that it relates, but I don't know how.

| Are lime hating plants necessarily acid loving?

No. And most plants described under both categories aren't either
lime hating or acid loving, as such.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.