Liming Soil - Sweet Sour and the like...

The acidity of the soil has a huge effect on fertility because the acidity of soil controls how available nutrients are to your crops. So.... find out your pH and lime.

Liming is the application of calcium and magnesium rich materials to soil in various forms, including limestone, hydrate lime, chalk, or marl. This neutralizes soil acidity and increases activity of soil bacteria. However, oversupply is bad for plant life.

Northwest soils are a bit on the acidic due to our rainy coniferous forests... And gardens generally do better in a pH neutral soils (generally) or slightly base (especially brassicas to prevent club root.) Someone asked me last week during a class I was teaching on vegetable gardening the difference between Agricultural or Garden lime and Dolomite lime. Sooooo what's the dif'?

Agricultural lime is round limestone or chalk is almost pure calcium carbonate.
Limestones containing significant amounts of magnesium carbonate are called dolomitic limestones.

If interested in only Ca, use ground limestone. If you want Mg too, use dolomitic lime.

Now... if you are interested in really only changing the pH...(pH A log scale measurement of the acidity/alkalinity of a solution with 1 being extremely acidic, 10 being extremely alkaline, and 7 being neutral. Most veggies like soil about 6.5 or neutral)


Now when...?

It’s usually best to lime your soil in the autumn and allow it to work its way into the soil over the winter. Since brassicas like both high amounts of nitrogen as well as a high pH, lime in the early spring,