During the growing season, the plants in the garden must be sufficiently fertilized and thus supplied with nutrients. This also includes liming, which should preferably be carried out in spring.

Lime is best incorporated into the soil in spring

Why do you have to lime in the vegetable garden at all?

Lime not only fulfills one, but various important functions in the garden. First, it would be the adequate supply of the plants with calcium, because this is the main component of the lime. The mineral is important for the water balance and for various metabolic processes in plants. Furthermore, liming improves the soil structure (it becomes finer), supports the beneficial bacteria and microorganisms in the soil and thus the humus production and, last but not least, has a direct influence on the pH value of the soil.

This is how you determine the right amount of lime

Consequently, when liming, you shouldn’t just jump straight into it, possibly following the motto “a lot helps a lot”. In this case, you could do a lot of harm, because an excess of lime will prevent plants from absorbing other, no less important nutrients. Deficiency diseases and thus a poor harvest would be the result. Instead, the amount of lime required depends on the given soil conditions, for which you should first have a soil analysis carried out. How to find out if you have one

  • clay soil
  • sandy loam soil
  • loamy sandy soil
  • or pure sandy soil

to have. With the help of a simple pH test in the spring, you can determine whether liming is necessary and how much lime you actually need for it. The rule is that the heavier the soil, the higher the pH value should be. Clay soil ideally has a pH of 7, sandy loam soil should have a pH of 6.5, loamy sandy soil should have a pH of 6 and sandy soil should have a pH of 5.5. If this value is stable, apply 150 grams of carbonate of lime per square meter of garden soil every three years. However, if the value is higher, it must be 250 grams of carbonate of lime.

Lime is not just lime - the right variety for your garden

On normal garden soil you should use algae lime or carbonate of lime, whereas quicklime is only suitable for very heavy clay soil. Light soils often only get by with rock flour (€14.13), which contains calcium, magnesium and various trace elements in addition to lime.

tips

Lime must be worked deep into the soil, but it must be dry. Liming is usually done in spring. But if this is rainy and wet, it is better to postpone the measure until autumn.

Category:

Vegetable garden