Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Sugar beet lime can be problematic. Its high water content increases
transportation costs and makes uniform application difficult. The uneven ap-
plication of lime in your orchard can create serious production problems. Un-
less you have a particular reason for using sugar beet lime, traditional liming
materials will probably provide better results.
Hydrated lime
is allowed for the preparation of Bordeaux fungicide and can
be used in organic livestock production but is not allowed as a soil amend-
ment.
Quicklime
(burnt lime) is more potent than limestone. It is very reactive and
is difficult and hazardous to handle, however, as well as damaging to plants.
The U.S. National Organic Program makes no mention of quicklime, and it is
best avoided.
Adding the liming material.
The amount of liming material you should add
depends on your soil's pH, texture, and buffering capacity. The pH value
alone tells you only whether your soil is acidic or alkaline — it will not tell
you how much liming material to add. Your soil analyses should include a
“liming requirement” test, which will tell you how much standard liming ma-
terial to add to raise soil pH by a given amount. You will then need to calcu-
late how much material to apply, based on that material's CCE. Pure calcium
carbonate has a CCE of 100 percent. Hydrated lime has a CCE of 135 per-
cent. Most commonly available liming materials have CCE values less than
100 percent.
If the material you plan to use has a CCE of 50 percent, you would need
to add twice as much as you would for pure calcium carbonate. In reality,
determining how much material to apply is very easy once you receive your
liming requirement results and know the CCE of your liming material. Your
soil test report should tell you how much 100 percent CCE material to add.
Allow time for the liming materials to react in the soil and for the soil pH
to stabilize. If you are making substantial changes to the soil pH, apply lim-
