How much lime for 1/4 acre

Pond Boss Magazine

Joined: Apr 2002 Posts: 14,525 Likes: 250 Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker Joined: Apr 2002 Posts: 14,525 Likes: 250	What is the purpose for using the hydrated lime? It's purpose and the alkalinity of the water will govern how much is used. Using just hydrated lime can be used to clear turbid water, although not as effective a clearing agent as alum.. Last edited by Bill Cody; 03/17/18 06:46 PM. aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine - America's Journal of Pond Management

Joined: Apr 2002 Posts: 14,525 Likes: 250 Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker Joined: Apr 2002 Posts: 14,525 Likes: 250	The pH is surprisingly low for a pond in Indiana. Have the pH of 5.5 verified by a local water treatment company. Low pH and use of hydrated lime could cause a wide swing of pH due to low buffering capacity of the water with a pH of 5.5-6. Be aware a fish kill could result if you are not careful with the application method especially in low buffered water. Amount to use will depend on the volume of water as in acre feet. Maximum depth and average depth will need to be known not estimated to accurately calculate the acre feet of water present. NOTE: Municipalities who source their water from surface waters regularly use alum to clear the turbidity. Thus alum is considered safe by EPA for use in water treatment for domestic use. Using hydrated lime is not as effective as alum for clearing turbid water. Hydrated lime, or calcium hydroxide, will increase total hardness (the calcium component), and temporarily increase the total alkalinity (the hydroxide component), and it can quickly raise the pH of the water. Adding hydrated lime at too large of an amount will rapidly increase in pH to the point of lethal to fish. Hydrated lime is considered to be a strong base, highly caustic, and care should be used when applying. Avoid breathing the dust and do not allow it to contact skin or eyes. Last edited by Bill Cody; 03/21/18 07:01 PM. aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine - America's Journal of Pond Management

Moderated by  Bill Cody, Bruce Condello, catmandoo, Chris Steelman, Dave Davidson1, esshup, ewest, FireIsHot, Omaha, Sunil, teehjaeh57 

I am going to say NO on the pelletized lime working better this time of yr over pulverized lime, and the reason is, pelletized lime has a coating on it, and that has to break down to get the lime to break down to be used, so its more time consuming for the process to happen,
its TIME , and mixing lime with soil that changes PH!
SO< having lime that needs more time to break down, isn;t going to speed anything up on changing PH, only thing pelletized lime does is make it easier top spread with a broadcast spreader, over needing a drop spreader like type for pulleverized lime!
and IMO< you need to use even MORE pelletized lime per dose, than pulverized, due to the stuff scatters more and you have larger gaps between soil and lime pellets!
talking to a soil conservation officer/extension, isn;'t a bad idea, but there are small changes in soil from one acre to another, so, its NOT like he is going to say USE this THERE, it all come down to the sopil test results, and then its TIME to make the PH change,
if your NOT going to mix the lime into the top layer of soil VERY VERY well, its ALL time, to make it change!
the ONLY faster way to MAYBE make PH change would be with liquid lime
it can be sprayed onto things and in a smaller plot like yous, its rather do able if you have a sprayer
BUT its a very short term fix, and NOT going to really do much to change the soil after a little time goes by(say one planting)
it will wash off real fast and your back to square one again.
I again have a LOT of real experience with soils in PA, most are poor at best, rocky and just don't have great soil for planting in most places near forested lands!
its all about time and doing test after test till your getting a steady reading a few yrs in a row and then its all about top dressing after this, to maintain things!
there is NO add this and good for yrs deal here in PA IMO
all the more so in SMALL plots where leaf matter and other things alter soil so fast

larger fields can be easier to maintain, as edges only get lower faster, where small plots the whole plot can loose it(still the same in lime needs though)

NOW as for planting steps, I also have a slight disagreement with the above, close but I do things a little differently!(not bashing the above at all here either)

I would ADD the lime , THEN work the soil to a good 3-5 inches, and then let things work!
I would NOT add any fertilizer to the soil until your going to plant,
I also, prefer to turn soil over a few times before planting when on low PH soil or just /new sites!
be like, add lime today, turn soil over
wait a week, and do again and then maybe a third time, then wait a week, see what greens up and spray/burn down
as when ever you turn soil over you will bring up dormant seeds you don;t want in your plot!

after this I will wait a day or so, by this time, many times soil firms up good enough to just fertilize, and then seed and then cultipack seeds down!
Brasicia and like seeds do NOT need to be much more than just slightly covered with dirt, an inch or less of cover, and on slightly loose soil when you roll it, that seems to work about perfect to me for getting seeds just covered by rolling over, or using a small drag of some sorts!

I do fully agree with, the firt t=planting some times NOT being as great as you hope for!
many things cause this, one is, well soil again isn;'t at needed PH, second is, small plots like this, might get too much shade if tree's are not cut back enough to get good day light, and then there is over browsing, a NEW to area plot, will draw critters to it a lot more and they will eat fresh growing green things, thus stunning a lot of the plots plants!

this is also why I recommend adding a second crop to the site even if small like soybeans! the seeds can normally be had cheap, and will grow most times even just laying on top opf the soil, do a mild broadcast so not to compete with the main crop, and you will have something the deer and such will eat over the brassiciia while its mature, yet not make too much shade to cover the main seed as it grows!
once fall gets here IF any beans make it they will turn brown, deer will eat the beans over just the plants as they were growing, and leave the brassicia alone till a frost sweetens it for then

and DON"T be fooled into thinking deer won't eat brassicia's before frost, they will, in low prime food areas and higher deer numbers deer will mow a plow fast this size!
I managed some farms that I could plant 3 acres of corn for a plot-along with 13 acres of other things and a 100 acre corm n field(commercial planting) and not really get any ears of corn on the corn plot, deer would mow it down as it grew, and never ever needed to mow any of the clover plots or other deer plots!
had super high deer numbers though and was crazy with so many eating everything so fast!
used to e fence the 3 acres of corn to try and curb it, and let the power off about mid dec, and would run out of corn in them by end of jan! hoping to provide some winter food, just amazing to see that much corn get eaten so fast in winter time there!
just an example! sorry if off topic!

How much lime do I need for a 1/4 acre plot?

How much lime should you put per acre?

How much does a 40 lb bag of lime cover?

How much does a 50 pound bag of lime cover?