Can someone translate this?

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ENVY23
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Can someone translate this?

Post by ENVY23 » March 1st, 2016, 9:15 pm

The link is to a local farm/ag store in regards to lime. They have 2 products, one specifically says "dolomitic lime" and then they have this product. Is this considered calcitic lime? The reason I'm asking is I can get this a lot cheaper than Mag-I-Cal, and I can't source Pennington or Encap locally. From reading "Lime and Your Lawn" in the articles section, calctic lime contains a low percentage of Mg compared to Ca, and from looking at the PDF, this product seems to fit that description. So would this be a good substitute for Mag-I-Cal? The best I can tell is it's roughly 96% Ca and 1.5% Mg? Thank you.

Link to product label: http://ourcoop.com/productcatalog/Main/ ... x?el=64326

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andy10917
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Re: Can someone translate this?

Post by andy10917 » March 1st, 2016, 9:28 pm

Yes, that appears to be a high-Calcium product.

Get the number of lbs/K before doing price comparisons.

ENVY23
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Re: Can someone translate this?

Post by ENVY23 » March 1st, 2016, 10:26 pm

Thanks, Andy! Last year's soil test called for 9lbs/k of Mag-I-Cal, and the label says it's 35% Ca. Since this product is 96% Ca, would I apply roughly 3.3lbs/k?

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andy10917
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Re: Can someone translate this?

Post by andy10917 » March 1st, 2016, 11:23 pm

No. You need to know the amount the manufacturer recommends per 1000 sq ft. For a product of the grade you are looking at, it is often 40-50 lbs/K. There is no hi-tech process in that product - that's crushed rocks in those bags.

ENVY23
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Re: Can someone translate this?

Post by ENVY23 » March 2nd, 2016, 12:46 am

Ok, gotcha. That makes sense. So even though the calcium percentage is higher, it's a lower grade/quality product, and therefore it would take more per lbs per k to achieve the same results. I was looking at it the wrong way. I'll probably stick with Mag-I-Cal in that case. Thank you for the help.

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TimmyG
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Re: Can someone translate this?

Post by TimmyG » March 2nd, 2016, 2:06 pm

ENVY23, take a look at this recent thread. It should shed some light on what you're paying for with the fast-acting limes (~$15/bag) vs. the basic dolomitic limes (~$4/bag).
http://aroundtheyard.com/soil/solu-cal- ... 18815.html

With the fast-acting limes, you get just that, fast action on the order of weeks to months. If your objective is to correct a calcium deficiency (the cause of a low pH) sometime this year, go with a fast-acting lime, which will undoubtedly be calcitic.

As Andy noted, the cheaper limes, although pelletized for ease of spreading, are nothing more than crushed/pulverized limestone. Nothing is included to speed up the availability of the cations to the soil and turf. As you can imagine, availability is on the order of months to years. With the basic limes, expect slow changes over the next couple years or more.

Note that the composition of basic pelletized limes depends on where it was mined. Without any difference or mention whatsoever on the front label, the composition may be high in magnesium (about a third?) or low in magnesium (negligible). For the exact same product, it can differ from store to store and by time of year. You won't know what you're getting unless you read the composition on the back label, which, kudos, you've already done. I swear, any time that there's a good sale up here, it's always the wrong one in stock.

Personally, I use both. In New England, we battle extraordinarily low pH (low cations across the board), so fast-acting lime is essential to bringing the calcium base saturation and pH up in a (relative) hurry. But once I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, I switch over to the cheaper lime. Yes, it's obviously much cheaper for the absolute amount of Ca (and Mg) applied, but the slow action also provides a nice steady supply to help buffer the deleterious effects of acid rain.

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