Quote:
Originally Posted by TheUrbanFarmer
Well, based on the Ca:Mg ratio - that standard 2:1 - that is likely dolomite limestone.
If you are chasing that golden ratio of 7:1 to 10:1 Ca:Mg - dolomite will never get you there before you end up with too much Mg and locking out K. Ideally, you want your soil to have about 65% calcium...which comes from many different sources outside of your liming amendments.
You are better off going with a more pure calcium carbonate source like oyster shell flour (western US) or aragonite (eastern US). These amendments can impact soils positively for up to 5 years where a standard ag lime or dolomite is often applied yearly to control pH.
Where I live the native soils are sandy loam and therefore tend to leach Mg rather quickly. I offset this by using other amendments like gypsum and sul-po-mag.
Given the media you say you are using, you can assume, 1c of lime per cu ft of peat moss to bring the pH into the proper range.
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Now we're getting somewhere.
This is what people need to look at to understand that ph is not what you are trying for.
You are balancing elements. When this is achieved, pH will go where it needs to be.
You Should not be trying to achieve a pH number and think your good to go when you get the soil to that number and just need to add fertilizer.