# Overthinking Lime?



## Dave81NJ (Jun 7, 2018)

My soil test in cool season lawn is showing at 5.8pH, and my Magnesium is below average (125 where range is 150-290). I purchased the Dolomitic Lime, but curious ... what should I be looking for on the labels of these bags? What indicates quality?

Thanks.
This is the one I bought


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## rbvar (May 28, 2020)

Grass Factor video from about a month ago comparing the no-name lime vs. boutique brands makes me lean towards "don't overthink", just go with what's cost effective. If your soil test reported lbs/1K, see how your lbs of lime x %Mg compares to that need.


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## corneliani (Apr 2, 2019)

I've come to understand it's mostly a solubility factor, and how quickly the calcium carbonate can enter the soil and displace the H+ ions. That's what seems to make some lime more 'fast-acting' than others. As for the duration of one vs the other, the fact that the likes of Mag-i-cal and LimeLight recommend yearly applications seem to imply that they don't last as long. Maybe a combination of the two may be the best of both worlds (?).

I called the Austinville plant once (I'm crazy like that) and asked them directly what if any difference exists between their fast-acting lime vs their regular and the guy just scoffed and said it's the same exact material just one is a bit finer. Take that for what it's worth.

EDIT: Btw, to your quality question... I think the CCE is the value that shows how strong/effective that actual mined limestone is in relation to others. That's technically the way to determine how much of that particular product to put down.


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

Look primarilly at 2 things.
1. CCE
A CCE of 100 means the product has the same neutralizing ability as 100% pure Calcitic lime.
Think of it as:
If the CCE is 100, then 100 pounds of that product will neutralize as much acidity (H+) as 100 lbs of pure limestone.
If the CCE is 80, then 100 lbs of that product will only neutralize as much acidity as 80 lbs of pure limestone.
If the CCE is 110, then 100 lbs of that product will neutralize as much acidity as 110 lbs of pure limestone.
Dolomitic lime will have a higher CCE than calcitic limestone because Mg weighs less than calcium, so you get more of the neutralizing AI (carbonate) in the same weight bag. HOWEVER, dolomitic lime works slower as the Mg/carbonate bonds are slower to break.
1. Fineness (how small are the lime particles in each prill) The finer the grind (e.g. >60 mesh) the faster the product will dissolve and the faster the change in pH. You do not want any product that contains any portion of product larger than 20 mesh (e.g 8 mesh). 20 mesh is about the size of a grain of fine sand or table salt.


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## Dave81NJ (Jun 7, 2018)

Ridgerunner said:


> Look primarilly at 2 things.
> 1. CCE
> A CCE of 100 means the product has the same neutralizing ability as 100% pure Calcitic lime.
> Think of it as:
> ...


this is the one I bought.


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## rjw0283 (May 11, 2020)

interesting thread, I've never thought about lime. I just throw down the cheapest dolomitic or calcitic lime they have. I've found lowes always has dolomitic and home depot has the calcitic.


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

No CCE or particle sieve size listed? Ok, use the ENV. The ENV is calculated using both CCE and grind size. The ENV is the percentage of the lime product CCE that is predicted to be activated within one year of application. The higher the %, the better. 70% is about average, all in all, not bad.


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