Granulated Lime

gozunda

Spread some granulated lime couple of weeks back as soil in one area had come up with a lower than optimum ph for grass

However despite all the rain etc the granulated lime shows little sign of breaking down into the soil

Anyone come across this before?

Shauny2010

Yes I recall the same happening to my fields. Takes a bit of heat and growth then the soil will start to break it down. Nothing to worry about

gozunda

Shauny2010 wrote: »

Yes I recall the same happening to my fields. Takes a bit of heat and growth then the soil will start to break it down. Nothing to worry about

Thanks for that. I spread some last year and it broke down fairly quickly as I remember. This year it looks different for some reason. Though soil temperature is definitly down from same time last year ...

Who2

I got a few ton dropped in the yard today as ph has dropped slightly on the silage ground and i didnt get the groundlime out in the back end. i havent spread any yet and was wondering is there any adverse effects throwing it now on the silage fields?

charolais0153

Who2 wrote: »

I got a few ton dropped in the yard today as ph has dropped slightly on the silage ground and i didnt get the groundlime out in the back end. i havent spread any yet and was wondering is there any adverse effects throwing it now on the silage fields?

Yes. Affects the preservation of the silage.

Who2

charolais0153 wrote: »

Yes. Affects the preservation of the silage.

I was told that was more so ground lime and the reason i went with gran lime.

Robson99

Who2 wrote: »

I was told that was more so ground lime and the reason i went with gran lime.

Correct

gozunda

Talking to someone who works in this area last night and they were saying to keep an eye on the pH of soils in general as there is a real danger of soils becoming more acidic with the high rainfall over the last year.

larthehar

I have a field, drained in 2013 and ploughed for 3 years with barley sown.. let out for grass in autumn 2016. Has been performing very well until this spring i see a few rushes appearing, moss on the soil and the top few inches are soaking.. pH is 6.7 there was lad saying to gran lime anyways and chain harrow.. what do lads think?

gozunda

larthehar wrote: »

I have a field, drained in 2013 and ploughed for 3 years with barley sown.. let out for grass in autumn 2016. Has been performing very well until this spring i see a few rushes appearing, moss on the soil and the top few inches are soaking.. pH is 6.7 there was lad saying to gran lime anyways and chain harrow.. what do lads think?

Was told the same regarding the area I treated with gran lime. Rushes and other low pH loving plants / weeds find such conditions easier to establish themselves in. Plus fertilisers etc are taken up better when the pH is corrected.

Only thing I didnt harrow after spreading and with the low temperatures the gram lime is still visible after a couple of weeks.

Would check your pH reading though as your reading appears to a bit towards more normal / alkaline than acidic?

Teagasc advise that "the optimum soil pH for grassland is at or above 6.3. To achieve this, Teagasc advice sets the target pH for grassland at 6.5. This allows for the slow pH changes that occur after liming and the gradual loss of lime after the target is reached"

See:
https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/soil--soil-fertility/soil-ph--liming/grassland/

larthehar

gozunda wrote: »

Was told the same regarding the area I treated with gran lime. Rushes and other low pH loving plants / weeds find such conditions easier to establish themselves in. Plus fertilisers etc are taken up better when the pH is corrected.

Only thing I didnt harrow after spreading and with the low temperatures the gram lime is still visible after a couple of weeks.

Would check your pH reading though as your reading appears to a bit towards more normal / alkaline than acidic?

Teagasc advise that "the optimum soil pH for grassland is at or above 6.3. To achieve this, Teagasc advice sets the target pH for grassland at 6.5. This allows for the slow pH changes that occur after liming and the gradual loss of lime after the target is reached"

See:
https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/soil--soil-fertility/soil-ph--liming/grassland/

That is kinda my problem.. soil samples show that pH is fine and it got lime only last year.. maybe i need to get a soil pH meter and do some localised sampling.. it is a 10ac field and some parts are worse than others..
I think compaction might be an issue as the soil in dry enough down 10ins or that.. in a dry time possibly a pan buster might fix it.