OK to apply lime now? Zone 5 and planting winter rye...

[ohiofarmgirl]

i have The Worst Soil ever.. that hard red clay - but tons of worms. been working on improving it and it did better than last year (everything sprouted but no big harvest).

is it ok/helpful to apply lime now -- just before i plant the winter rye? i need a good cover crop to hold the soil from just running off and i really really need tilth.. i'll till it under next spring.

any thoughts or is the lime application just for spring?

thanks!

 

[lesa]

I am about to plant winter rye, would be interested to hear others experiences... Sorry, I don't know anything about lime...

 

[obsessed]

Did you do a soil test? Do you know for sure you need lime?

I live in an area where the soil is notoriously acid. blueberry love it here. But I have been working hard on my soil and somehow got my beds to a ph of 7.0 without lime. If I had limed my soil for limings sake it would have been a disaster. So the soil test saved me from doing something I should not have.

 

[injunjoe]

Did you do a soil test? Do you know for sure you need lime?

I live in an area where the soil is notoriously acid. blueberry love it here. But I have been working hard on my soil and somehow got my beds to a ph of 7.0 without lime. If I had limed my soil for limings sake it would have been a disaster. So the soil test saved me from doing something I should not have.

Great point! "Soil Test"
I live within a few miles of lime rock pits, Our soil is sand and lime!
My friend was always spreading lime and fertz. Watered the lawn to death!! He had not a clue what the lawn was missing, he just added things at will. He wasted money, time, resources, and lots of water.
His lawn dried up and died.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

yeah oh boy i need it... just didnt know if i could apply now and if it would help or if i should wait until spring.



this is the first year for me to do a large scale cover crop planting so i'm really excited to see how it will go. i'm trying to do minimal tilling now - but obviously a lime application will change that. we have a small drill planter that we'll use for the bigger sections and i've done hand planting in the raised beds etc.

any thoughts on the timing???

(and yep we are pouring on the poop from a local stable)

 

[HiDelight]

if your soil is acidic you apply it spring and fall (I do not think it matters what zone you are in just a rule of thumb)

but make sure it is acidic first