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Grasses, Pastures & Hay
ag lime or dolomite?
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<blockquote data-quote="Limepro" data-source="post: 1312313" data-attributes="member: 17660"><p>I make both hi-cal and dolomite lime, here's what you should know. Your ratio of calcium to magnesium should be 7 to 1 at a minimum, any good agronomist will tell you this. Your around 24 to 1, At this ratio a lot goes wrong inside a plant. For example chlorophyll production is dependent on magnesium. Next look at where your soil test shows base saturation %, your target is 65% calcium and somewhere around 7 %-12% magnesium for most soils. Finally look at your CEC , the lower the CEC of your soil typically the more benefits you get from dolomite. Low CEC equals sandy soils, dolomite has a tightening effect on soils and in sand this may help you retain some moisture.</p><p>Hope this helps you some .</p><p></p><p>Now excuse my rant on dolomite for just a second. I make both types of lime. I make more dolomite than hi- cal and I make way more money off dolomite. I use dolomite on my own farm because I'm all cattle and hardly any row crops. All that being said dolomite lime is inferior to hi-cal lime at changing soil ph. Every time someone post about dolomite they mention it has a higher CCE ( calcium carbonate equivalent ) than hi-cal and that is true. It's all about molecular weights, magnesium is lighter than calcium and therefore you get more atoms of magnesium in a ton of dolomitic aglime. That's the easy science part that every agronomist and soil scientist will tell you. Now go talk to chemist and they will quickly tell you that dolomite MUST be twice as small as calcium to achieve the same amount of reactivity in an acid solution.So my point is this,dolomite is a great tool that our plants need. But please pay attention to the particle size with dolomite, it's useless and a waste of your money if it's not ground to a fine powder. Thanks!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Limepro, post: 1312313, member: 17660"] I make both hi-cal and dolomite lime, here's what you should know. Your ratio of calcium to magnesium should be 7 to 1 at a minimum, any good agronomist will tell you this. Your around 24 to 1, At this ratio a lot goes wrong inside a plant. For example chlorophyll production is dependent on magnesium. Next look at where your soil test shows base saturation %, your target is 65% calcium and somewhere around 7 %-12% magnesium for most soils. Finally look at your CEC , the lower the CEC of your soil typically the more benefits you get from dolomite. Low CEC equals sandy soils, dolomite has a tightening effect on soils and in sand this may help you retain some moisture. Hope this helps you some . Now excuse my rant on dolomite for just a second. I make both types of lime. I make more dolomite than hi- cal and I make way more money off dolomite. I use dolomite on my own farm because I'm all cattle and hardly any row crops. All that being said dolomite lime is inferior to hi-cal lime at changing soil ph. Every time someone post about dolomite they mention it has a higher CCE ( calcium carbonate equivalent ) than hi-cal and that is true. It's all about molecular weights, magnesium is lighter than calcium and therefore you get more atoms of magnesium in a ton of dolomitic aglime. That's the easy science part that every agronomist and soil scientist will tell you. Now go talk to chemist and they will quickly tell you that dolomite MUST be twice as small as calcium to achieve the same amount of reactivity in an acid solution.So my point is this,dolomite is a great tool that our plants need. But please pay attention to the particle size with dolomite, it's useless and a waste of your money if it's not ground to a fine powder. Thanks! [/QUOTE]
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