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Old May 9, 2012   #1
luke
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Default Adding lime when planting

A few nights ago I gave the rest of my tomato plants that were left from my seedling effort to a friend, who is also a botanist. He mentioned that he mixes lime into the planting hole when planting out - our area has acidic soil due to the number of pines in the area.

I saw where someone mentioned adding lime to a hay bale plant out.

I've been ammending the entire garden with lime, and several other ammendments in the fall. Do any of you add lime when you plant out?
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Old May 9, 2012   #2
attml
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I think that there are a lot of people that add lime, myself included. There has been some debate about this topic, but there has been a lot of discussion about lime helping prevent (Blossom End Rot) seen in many tomato varieties. The bottom line is that blossom end rot is caused by a water uptake issue and or a calcium deficency. Dolomite lime, egg shells, crab shells and some other calcium based medium are added to help in the prevention of BER - sometimes with mixed results. If your soil PH is low (acidic) and the lime helps bring it back into balance you are definitely doing a good thing by adding it!!

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Old May 9, 2012   #3
stormymater
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Know your soil's pH before slinging lime. Our native soil here runs a pH of 7.4 to 7.6. Wouldn't be useful w/native soil here.
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Old May 9, 2012   #4
fortyonenorth
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If your soil is sufficiently limed adding additional lime to the planting hole isn't going to be beneficial and could, potentially, cause problems with nutrient antagonisms. Here's why. Let's say you get a soil test and they tell you to add dolomitic lime at the rate of 3000 lb. per acre - that's the same as roughly 1 oz. per sq. ft. If you begin adding lime to the planting hole you can see how that recommendation can easily be exceeded exponentially.

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Old May 9, 2012   #5
FILMNET
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The old wise tale around here in garden lime sweetens the soil. So be careful now there are many different limes for sale to be safe i got Epsoma organic garden lime
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Old May 9, 2012   #6
PaulF
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A soil test done by a reputable lab is the key. If I added lime to my 8.0 to 8.2 soil it would do great harm. A $10 or even a $100 do-it-yourself soil testing kit can't compare with lab equipment that costs $2000+ and is operated by an experienced technician. One real test (usually $10-$15) will pay for itself the first year.
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Old May 9, 2012   #7
lakelady
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I always sprinkle some in the planting hole but our soil here is very acidic. I have the most gorgeous azaleas and other acid loving plants, but have to amend soil for the lilacs to bloom because it's too acidic. For me, it helps.
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Old May 9, 2012   #8
livinonfaith
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My grandfather always did it and had beautiful tomatoes. So I always do it. I don't add much. Maybe a tablespoon to a tablespoon and a half per plant.

But one of my container plants, Yellow Trifele, is losing its tomatoes to BER. It's killing me! At least eight have spots so far. (It's setting most of it's blooms)

I know that sometimes the first few tomatoes are lost to BER and then the problem works itself out. That happened with my Kibit's Ukrainian and it looks beautiful now.

But I'm thinking about getting some Calcium nitrate because of some of the threads I've seen lately. Kind of to give that Trifele a quick "shot in the arm" of calcium.
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Old May 9, 2012   #9
FILMNET
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I did try pots 2 years ago terrible BER I soaked some plants with lime water, don't know if it helped, But ive given up with Roma's and pots
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Old May 9, 2012   #10
b54red
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My beds have a ph between 7.5 and 8.6 so there is no way I will add lime to anything other than my gin and tonic.

You really need a soil test to find out what your ph is so that you can decide whether to add lime or not. Once you get the soil too alkaline it is very hard to get the ph down. I added a huge amount of fresh mushroom compost for several years and didn't realize the stuff was so alkaline until it was too late. I have been trying to get my beds ph down for 3 years now and it is really hard to do without adding a huge amount of chemicals which I don't want to do. The problem with soil that has a high ph is it is very hard for a plant to take up a lot of the minerals that it needs. The one benefit is cucumbers are never bitter in my garden. Maybe that is why they say lime is a soil sweetener.
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Old May 9, 2012   #11
Farmette
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How does one deal with a soil test for their pots, raised beds (used 2 different mixes for these) and an in ground section of the garden. One would have to test soil in pots, 2 raised beds and inground section. This could be pretty expensive, no?
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Old May 9, 2012   #12
TNplants1
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Lime is excellent when used sparingly with fragile softwoods as roses and garden plants. It's a nutrient they "crave" and thrive on. We use this on our perennial plants and they are beautiful, after 34 years, this is the cheapest way to make anything gorgeous, even roses.
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Old May 10, 2012   #13
snippits
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If ph is right, then I would add gypsum to replace the lime, and then add a tablespoon or two of epsom salt(magnesium sulfate).
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Old May 10, 2012   #14
stormymater
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Also your Ag Extension Service will test your soil samples for free in NC & for very low charges in other states. Bring in a generous scoop collected from several inches below the surface. They will have you fill out forms & box up there & they will send into state lab. I trust their analytics better than any store bought test. Also you can call & discuss your results will soil scientists - you pay their salaries - might as well use their brains.
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Old May 10, 2012   #15
luke
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My OP should have been more specific. I ammend my soil as needed with a soil test from the extension service. Lime is always recomended, followed by additional doses of ammonia nitrate and phosporous.

My questions is just in regards to adding lime to the planting hole when planting tomatoes.
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