Lime application before plowing

[Hughesy]

Want to get some lime spread next week, some onto grazing land which I’ll need a few weeks later and some onto a piece that’s due to be ploughed when I can get the sheds mucked out to go on it and the contractor to do the field work. Will it be ok the lime the land before ploughing always put it on top after ploughing previously.

 

[neilo]

On top if at all possible. It works down through the soil fast enough anyway so best put it where you need to neutralise acidity and you want seedlings to take.

 

[quavers]

i was told it takes 2 months for it to wash in if you are applying on top , best to plan a head and lime the previous year before ploughing up if you can help it

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Yes, it'll be fine either way

 

[Agrivator]

Ether way for anything under 2t/acre. The way folk plough today, much of the lime will still remain near the surface anyway.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

I was always told to lime after and work it in . How deep are you ploughing , you will lose some of it for sure

 

[Global ovine]

Only in extreme droughts do salts move upwards. I doubt that has ever happened in the UK. Liming action works as water carries it downwards.
If you lime before ploughing it works below the the plough depth,not the seed bed.

 

[Cab-over Pete]

It would be better on the ploughing but can depend on ground conditions. As long as it’s dry, put it on top.

 

[Henarar]

Better for you on the Ploughing, better for the lime speader driver before Ploughing

 

[nails]

Who spreads lime in my area nowadays? I used to use David Lush spreading screened chalk.

 

[Global ovine]

Who spreads lime in my area nowadays? I used to use David Lush spreading screened chalk.

Both lime and chalk reactivity depends on particle size to increase surface area of the reactive product with the soil, it doesn't matter which is used, as long as it is finely ground.
Some limestone is hard and needs very fine grinding. Think, if small marble chips were put into a glass of water overnight how many would be dissolved by the morning, very few. Whereas ground soft limestone would result in milky water soon after mixing.
Unfortunately salesmen like to quote the calcium carbonate % (the reactive stuff), but don't mention the solubility of their product (the ability to make it work).

Be wary of products where only half of the truth is promoted.


If you are planning to plough in the spring and want to avoid the risk of spreading on wet cultivated ground, apply the lime early in the autumn to allow time for the liming reaction to work down through the top soil.

 

[Global ovine]

Be wary of getting soil pH tests done on new crops or new pasture where lime was applied as part of the preparation. This is because soil testing labs very finely grind the soil particles prior to the chemical analysis. If the soil sample contains undissolved lime or chalk particles, the reading will then be considerably more alkaline than the raw field soil sample. A common field litmus test is more accurate in those situations.
This situation has been a regular trap for farmers in regions where local limestone is hard and particle size too large to make it work. If it had been ground to talcum powder fineness, it would have then dissolved and reacted to lower the pH.

 

[vinnie123]

Who spreads lime in my area nowadays? I used to use David Lush spreading screened chalk.

There’s a bloke at lytchett matravers and Ben Stretton from Sherborne too, must be more

 

[nails]

There’s a bloke at lytchett matravers and Ben Stretton from Sherborne too, must be more

Oh righto I will have a look around. What sort of price is spreading limestone ? Haulage of stone and spreading?