Re: [CH] Mary & Riley's lime
byron bromley (byron.bromley@gsd-co.com)
Wed, 9 May 2001 17:03:48 -0400
Riley
Getting rid of the tree does not change the soil pH over night, Pine trees
have been there for ?? thousands of years.
AMI meters, I liked this one the best of the cheap meters. I hope that
you also have the manual that came with it.
If you do, the note pg 9 this is a chart of pH and plant nutrients.
If you read the chart you will find that the plants ability to absorb P
falls of between 6.5 and 6. Potassium starts to fall of at 6.0, Ca starts at
7.0
Mg at 7.0 at 4.5 these are way below min needs.
Going the other way nutrients of iron start dropping at above 6.0,
Manganese, at 7.0 and above Boron, copper and zinc
drop off, at a pH of 8.0 these are not available to plants.
Hydrated lime is calcium hydroxide
http://www.hclrss.demon.co.uk/hydrated_lime.html
So is slaked lime
http://www.bartleby.com/65/x-/X-slakedli.html
Ground Limestone is calcium carbonate.
http://www.wcdinc.com/plisting.html?t=cc&grp=1
I read it as a 2 different chemicals.
Home brew calibration, Moisten some sterile seed starting medium with
vinegar. Needle should read about 4.5
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cameron
> > I think it's reckoned to be about pH6.5 but they will tolerate
> > anything in the ph4.5-pH8.5 range. Chiles are very tolerant. I cannot
>
Since you said it, I would love to see you prove this.
Please grow 4 chiles in a soil pH of 4.5, 4 in 6.75 and 4 in a pH of 8.5.
Then after 90 days provide us with photos of the differences in the plants
and pods and the taste/heat your judgement close enough..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An additional note on soil pH.
A couple years ago some of use thought
we had some bad seeds. Because ou habanros were not ripenned correctly.
A choc hab in a soil pH of 6.2 will ripen orange with little or no heat.
Country Girls and Peter Peppers will not rippen in a pH of 6.2. Red
Savina's rippen orange, scotch bonnets did not ripen. All plants and pods
were about 1/3 smaller, with little or no heat.
This is what happened in my garden
L.B.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mary & Riley" <uGuys@ChileGarden.com>
To: "Cameron Begg" <begg.4@osu.edu>; <chile-heads@globalgarden.com>
Cc: <PARKHURS@LEAVENWORTH.ARMY.MIL>; "Byron Bromley"
<byron.bromley@gsd-co.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2001 12:38 PM
Subject: RE: [CH] Mary & Riley's lime
> > soil so acidic? Did you have a lab. measure the pH?
>
> No, I found a (cheap???) ph meter in the tool shed and stuck it in the
> ground. I might make a buffer solution to check the calibration
> considering your comment. But it was quick measurement indicating a ph
> of about 6.5 iirc. I do plan on doing it right, but had a kneejerk
> reaction--I felt certain someone on the list had stated chiles like
> alkaline soils--we've been waiting to get a tree so haven't planted
> yet--and I wanted to start adjusting before planting this weekend.
>
> > Agricultural lime IS slaked lime. The body rotting stuff is
> > quicklime. Do not take chemical advice from Byron or you'll be buried
> > alive in compost and snake oil garden remedies!
>
> I keep a bag of rock salt around for Byron--good for advice and if he
> needs some to salt the drive what the hay? ;)
>
> I'm comfortable enough with chemistry but did not know that
> "agricultural lime" was slaked lime. Got the impression it referred to
> the carbonate. Not.
>
> >
> > >But I forgot to ask, what _is_ the proper ph for chiles?
> >
> > I think it's reckoned to be about pH6.5 but they will tolerate
> http://www.bartleby.com/65/x-/X-slakedli.htmlabove--Byron said 6.75 +-
0.25, which seemed reasonable and calmed
> the jerk in me knee.
>
> > imagine that your soil is outside this range. BTW don't waste your
> > money on cheap pH meters.
>
> It was free--Mary wasted _her_ money! _If_ she did. An AMI Instamatic
> Soil ph meter. It seemed to respond ok and the (one!) reading I took
> was in the range of what I expected for this soil--fruit trees, pines,
> palms, eucs.
>
>
> > No links, but now you've got me going on bucket chemistry I'll chuck
> > in a few suggestions!
> > I know nothing about palm debris.
>
> Acid enough to corrode tools if not cleaned.
>
> The pine needles should be left
> > around the base of the trees to provide a natural mulch and protect
>
> Moot point, the pine is history. Was threatening the neighbor. Not a
> good neighbor, my thought was let it go, but Mary's gentler side
> prevailed.
>
> > the shallow roots. Eucalyptus burns hotter than any other wood I have
> > lit. Use it for starting your grill. Walnut chips are hard wood and
> > should make a pretty good mulch. If your house is light in color keep
> > it off the walls to avoid staining. They also might be good for
> > smoking. Pecan is excellent. What does walnut smoke smell like?
>
> Walnut--I'll try using it for smoking. The inlaws are coming for
> Mother's Day. Worth an experiment and no harm done if it fails! ;)
>
> > --
> > ---
> > Regards, Cameron.
>
> Thanks for the excellent information!
>
> Hot regards,
>
> Riley
>
> PS Don't suppose you have a recipe for a homebrewed calibration
> solution?
>
>
>
>
>
> >
>
>