Pelletized lime

[shaz]

Got a real problem on some of the hills that make up 1/3 of my property. Sage grass is taking over and the hills are bad enough that a lime truck or even a buggy can't get to.

Soil info:
PH 5.5
Potash is at least 30lbs acre low.
Phosphate is high.

I'm spreading pelletized lime but no more than I have to due to cost ($4 for 40lb bag for a ton). Last year I spread 400lbs on one acre and noticed zero improvement this year. I put another 800lbs on that acre and 1200 on an acre next to it. We'll see this fall I guess.

Any other way to control sage than raise the PH? Raise the PH by how much?

NOTE: This area is under grazed. Virtually not a cow on it until winter.

 

[Bigfoot]

I've been wanting to spray the liquid lime, and haven't. Pretty much the same ph, and slope situation here. Everybody but the salesman says it won't work. I still want to try it.

 

[Banjo]

Got a real problem on some of the hills that make up 1/3 of my property. Sage grass is taking over and the hills are bad enough that a lime truck or even a buggy can't get to.

Soil info:
PH 5.5
Potash is at least 30lbs acre low.
Phosphate is high.

I'm spreading pelletized lime but no more than I have to due to cost ($4 for 40lb bag for a ton). Last year I spread 400lbs on one acre and noticed zero improvement this year. I put another 800lbs on that acre and 1200 on an acre next to it. We'll see this fall I guess.

Any other way to control sage than raise the PH? Raise the PH by how much?

NOTE: This area is under grazed. Virtually not a cow on it until winter.

I got a lot of sage grass in places but the last time I soil tested it was over 6 Ph. I heard either phosphorus is low or the grass isn't thick enough and it may need to be torn up a little bit.

 

[BC]

Here is an article about Broomsedge bluestem or as it is commonly called "sage grass"

http://nwdistrict.ifas.ufl.edu/phag/201 ... estations/

 

[Ebenezer]

I've been wanting to spray the liquid lime, and haven't. Pretty much the same ph, and slope situation here. Everybody but the salesman says it won't work. I still want to try it.

Works great for about 90 days. Then gone.

 

[tom4018]

I've been wanting to spray the liquid lime, and haven't. Pretty much the same ph, and slope situation here. Everybody but the salesman says it won't work. I still want to try it.

Do you know anyone that has ever tried it?

Luckily my PH has maintained a good level and not put any lime on in years.

 

[Bigfoot]

I've been wanting to spray the liquid lime, and haven't. Pretty much the same ph, and slope situation here. Everybody but the salesman says it won't work. I still want to try it.

Do you know anyone that has ever tried it?

Luckily my PH has maintained a good level and not put any lime on in years.

Not a sole. I think I'm gonna try a bucket of it when the ground finally settles about the end of April. The literature seems convincing though.

 

[Ebenezer]

I've been wanting to spray the liquid lime, and haven't. Pretty much the same ph, and slope situation here. Everybody but the salesman says it won't work. I still want to try it.

Do you know anyone that has ever tried it?

Luckily my PH has maintained a good level and not put any lime on in years.

Not a sole. I think I'm gonna try a bucket of it when the ground finally settles about the end of April. The literature seems convincing though.

90 days of joy. Been there, done that.

 

[Bigfoot]

So it raise PH, and then it drops in 90 days?

 

[shaz]

So it raise PH, and then it drops in 90 days?

Does it actually raise the PH?

 

[shaz]

Got a real problem on some of the hills that make up 1/3 of my property. Sage grass is taking over and the hills are bad enough that a lime truck or even a buggy can't get to.

Soil info:
PH 5.5
Potash is at least 30lbs acre low.
Phosphate is high.

I'm spreading pelletized lime but no more than I have to due to cost ($4 for 40lb bag for a ton). Last year I spread 400lbs on one acre and noticed zero improvement this year. I put another 800lbs on that acre and 1200 on an acre next to it. We'll see this fall I guess.

Any other way to control sage than raise the PH? Raise the PH by how much?

NOTE: This area is under grazed. Virtually not a cow on it until winter.

I got a lot of sage grass in places but the last time I soil tested it was over 6 Ph. I heard either phosphorus is low or the grass isn't thick enough and it may need to be torn up a little bit.

Someone on the board had mentioned potash as a potential problem. In my case I could really see that being true.

 

[M.Magis]

What about a drop spreader? The ones I see go for pretty cheap, I paid $150 for mine. You’d have to push it off a cliff to get it to roll over. It’s a bit slow, I can only put about 800 lbs of ag lime in mine, but $10/ton vs $200/ton…

 

[hillbilly beef man]

Jo's theory on making more money with a dull pencil comes to mind here. I am in the same boat on steep ground. My current plan is to fertilize and lime what I can get a truck over and take care of it. The rest just give it a shot of Grazon every couple of years and let it make what it will. I was spending many times more per acre to take care of those steep places than I am on my more level spots.

 

[talltimber]

I've got some of the same issues. I've got a spot that a truck could spread on part of it, if I could get the truck there. Other parts, hay ground, I can get a buggy over all of it if I'm careful (spread slopes with a nearly empty buggy) but can't get anyone to run a truck over it. I'm going to soil test this year and see where I'm at on it. It has not had hay taken off in about three years, but I have stockpiled it and run the cows on it from around Thanksgiving to around first of May each year.

 

[shaz]

What about a drop spreader? The ones I see go for pretty cheap, I paid $150 for mine. You’d have to push it off a cliff to get it to roll over. It’s a bit slow, I can only put about 800 lbs of ag lime in mine, but $10/ton vs $200/ton…

What brand is it? Is this wet lime?

My plan was to just to spray and clip these areas but I'm over run now.

Due for a soil sample this year. We'll see if I've even budged it so far.

Thanks

 

[M.Magis]

What about a drop spreader? The ones I see go for pretty cheap, I paid $150 for mine. You’d have to push it off a cliff to get it to roll over. It’s a bit slow, I can only put about 800 lbs of ag lime in mine, but $10/ton vs $200/ton…

What brand is it? Is this wet lime?

My plan was to just to spray and clip these areas but I'm over run now.

Due for a soil sample this year. We'll see if I've even budged it so far.

Thanks

I don't know the brand, it's old and has been painted a couple times. It only spreads dry lime. There are a lot of old ones out there, not many people use them anymore because they're inefficiant for large areas. They all basically look similar, mine looks just like this one, other than color.

 

[Ol' 243]

Pelletized lime takes a lot longer to work than ag lime.

 

[M.Magis]

Pelletized lime takes a lot longer to work than ag lime.

It's the other way. Pelletized lime is much faster because it's been ground onto a powder.

 

[jallen]

I'm thinking of spreading some Pelletized on an area I've got that the truck can't get to. Does Pelletized tend to last as long as far as its effect? I know it tends to make a difference quicker than Ag line but wondered if it was worth the expense overall?

 

[dun]

I'm thinking of spreading some Pelletized on an area I've got that the truck can't get to. Does Pelletized tend to last as long as far as its effect? I know it tends to make a difference quicker than Ag line but wondered if it was worth the expense overall?

My thought for what they're worth. You will start to se an effect sooner becuase it's a much finer particle, by the same token, it won;t last as many years because it's a smaller particle. But, there is always a but, if it's the only thing you can get to the spots and it's needed, it would be a good solution.