# Limestone vs quick lime



## quadmasta (Apr 3, 2019)

I've got a few bags of this https://www.lowes.com/pd/Sta-Green-Fast-Acting-Lime-25-lb-Organic-Lime-Ph-Balancer/1001424982

Waypoint recommended I apply 50 pounds of lime to one of my sample areas but I assume that's referring to the crushed limestone. How do I convert the recommendation to the fast lime?


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## JML (Jul 26, 2021)

If it's the same area as the soil test Progress you just posted, your Ph is 6.4 and does not need any more lime.

If it's a different area. Lime = limestone. Same thing. The main difference is Calcitic lime is slower dissolving and will raise your calcium levels as well, vs dolomitic lime is fast acting and commonly comes in a fine almost powder (messy) form. But you can find both in granular- Pro-Pell-It is awesome.


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## quadmasta (Apr 3, 2019)

It's a different area



I've also got a smaller area where they recommended 10 pounds per ksqft

The analysis on the bag of lime I linked is here:



It is a 25 pound bag that says it covers 5000 sqft. Is that essentially 5 pounds per thousand of lime since it's 97% calcium carbonate equivalent? I've got about a bag and a half of that I want to use up before I go buying anything else. I put close to 300 pounds of this stuff down last year https://www.lowes.com/pd/Timberline-Soil-Doctor-Pulverized-Garden-Lime-40-lb-Organic-Lime-PH-Balancer/3058417 and holy crap was it a pain in the butt to apply as much as I needed. The spreader was wide open and I had to make dozens of passes


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

JML said:


> The main difference is Calcitic lime is slower dissolving and will raise your calcium levels as well, vs dolomitic lime is fast acting and commonly comes in a fine almost powder (messy) form. But you can find both in granular- Pro-Pell-It is awesome.


The difference has to do with magnesium. Dolomitic has more magnesium than calcitic.

Fast lime is lime is crushed more to react faster, but faster means that it can change your soil profile too fast and cause harm. Follow the label rates and frequency until you get the total amount of lime the test recommends. It can take years.


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## quadmasta (Apr 3, 2019)

@g-man That was my question; how do I determine how much "lime" I'm putting down per the bag rate? Is it essentially 1:1?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Yes 1:1 is fine. In reality it is like ~90% the same, but 1:1 is close enough. They displayed the 90% in your label.


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## quadmasta (Apr 3, 2019)

@g-man thanks. I'll probably buy regular lime and use that where it needs heavy application and just use this stuff for pre-winter application in the fall.


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