New Grower lime question

[Duckster]

Trying to figure out about how much dolomite lime to add to my soil. The soil measures 6.1-6.2 and I want to raise it to 6.5. I have 5 gal (green bottom) airpots. I assume the amount is small. Do I blend it in and the water and measure again?

 

[A4]

5 gallons of soil is .6 cubic feet. Generally you want to use 1 cup of dolomite lime per cubic foot.

Dolomite it not going to raise your pH quickly. It takes months to raise soil pH with dolomite. Hydrated lime is much quicker but will burn the roots if you have plants in there and are not real careful. Calcitic lime falls in between the two and is most often the one if you have a few weeks. Hydrated lime will work in a few days.

Dolomite ~ 1/2 cup for 5 gallons - Several months to work (Needs to be mixed into top of soil and watered)
Calcitic ~ 10 Tablespoons for 5 gallons Several weeks to a month or two to work (Needs to be mixed into top of soil and watered)
Hydrated ~ 5 Tablespoons for 5 gallons Several days to a week to work (Can be mixed with water and watered in)

 

[Duckster]

Thanks for the info. I have dolomite lime (granular) and another lime that is a powder but I'm not sure what type. I will check it out. Thanks again.

 

[A4]

Your welcome.

Yeah, granular is going to be slooooow. Powdered is possibly calcitic, depending on what region you live in some people call it garden lime. The easiest way to tell is calcitic or garden lime is going to be super high in calcium 20% and up with very little if any magnesium. Dolomite is going to be a lot less calcium and a pretty good bit of magnesium.

Just as a side note, I love calcitic lime! It works real well in TLO when given a month to work. Ultra high calcium which helps transport all nutrients much better through your plant and the helps increase the cation exchange rate of the soil which makes more nutrients available to the plant. Real good stuff if you intend to grow true organics.