ORIGINAL: Snook384
I started my first food plot about 9 months ago. I got my ph near to 7 and fertilized and grew some very nice iron clay peas. A few months later hurricane Faye came through. It drowned my road and I had to replant with brown top millet. It did not grow well. so I retested it last weekend for ph. My ph is now a THREE. I guess Faye destryoed my dirt. So hereare my questions because I do not know how to do the numbers.
How much lime do I need to put down on half an acre to get it back up to 7?
How long will I need to wait for the lime to become intergrated into the soil before planting.
Thank you for your time.
Snook, how did you test? Did you take several samples from different areas of the plot, mix them in a bucket and take a sample from that? Or did you just dig a sample from one spot and send it in? If you tested soon after you limed, you may have gotten a false reading of
seven. It takes about 6 months for the Lime to get established in the soil and become "available" for the plants in the root zone.
PH, (roughly translated as the power of Hydrogen), Is a 10 log function. If you have a PH of six, that is TEN times more acidic than a PH of 7. You need roughly 1 ton of lime per acre to raise the PH 1 point. So if you have a PH of 3, you would need four tons of Lime to bring the PH to 7 on 1 acre of soil. Iron clay peas actually like a PH ofabout 5. Be warned though, they need to get established and will not do well if the deer get in them before they get established.