If gardeners have long abandoned quicklime, leaving it to farmers, it is used again. It has some advantages, since it is natural and effective. However, its use is not trivial. However, it allows you to harvest quality fruits and vegetables. Here are some answers regarding its use in the garden.

Lime: what is it?

Quicklime iscalcium oxide, it gives off a great heat when it comes into contact with water. It is obtained by heating limestone to 900 °: it is calcination.

She is very aggressive and this is due to her hydrophilic properties. It absorbs all the water from the elements with which it comes in contact.

Lime milk is the ready-to-use version.

About the magnesian or dolomitic lime, it is improved with magnesia.

Lime must be handled with care and precaution : Wear long sleeves, gloves and goggles. This is irritating to the respiratory tract and the eyes. It can burn the skin.

The lime will be put in a tall container with a lid. Put the water in the lime with care by going there little by little, you can also add lime in small quantities in the water.

How to use lime in the vegetable patch and the garden?

As a basic amendment:

Acidic soils are counterbalanced by the addition of limestone which rebalances it.

The action is also advantageous on clay soils, sticky in winter and very hard in summer, they are difficult to work and cultivate.

Explanations:

Soil that is too acidic does not allow plants to benefit from its nutrients. Lime helps rebalance the soil, which will allow better decomposition of organic matter and the formation of fertile humus, beneficial for plantations. These organic materials are transformed into nitrates, their nutrients can benefit plants. We must not fall into excess calcium.

Liming also has an effect on the physical qualities of your soil, it will be more porous and stable.

How to treat your soil with lime?

Lime is preferably used in autumn or to early spring. Periods of frost and rains should be avoided in the days following liming.

If you are using quicklime: it should be used moderately: between 80 and 400 grams per square meter, taking into account the acidity of the soil and only once every 2 or 3 months.

For a restoration of soil pH, the application is annual until the desired result is obtained. The dose to apply depends on the type of soil, the first time:

  • The highest dose is reserved for humus soils.
  • It is 350 grams per m² and per year for clay soils.
  • It is 150 grams per m² and per year for sandy soils.

For maintenance afterwards, it suffices to put between 15 and 20 grams per m² once a year. You integrate it into the ground by simple scratching, except in the case of clay soils where lime once buried degrades.

Our tip : carry out pH tests in various places in your garden, it usually includes different areas.

It is also necessary to add nitrogen supplies, because lime causes a loss of nitrogen in quantity as well as magnesium deficiencies. To avoid these problems, you can put organic manure, but at least one month apart.

To know : quicklime, on the other hand, is prohibited in organic farming, it in fact modifies the structure of the soils and the destruction of the microfauna living there.

Magnesium lime being enriched in magnesium it is perfectly suited to the vegetable garden. Much less aggressive, it should be used at a rate of 100 grams per m² to be spread in the fall or just at the beginning of spring.

Some plants are calcifuge, therefore they do not support limestone. It is then necessary to wait at least a year before planting potatoes if you have put lime.

On the other hand, beans prefer calcareous soils, so you can put lime just before.

It keeps wireworms away and destroys parasites.

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