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.