Lime - help please!

[Trixiebelle]

Morning 

A builder I know has just donated me 3 bags of lime and swears it's the same as garden lime.

It's actually 'Natural Hydraulic Lime' used in building. Does anyone know if I can use it in the garden safely or is it something different altogether that will turn my soil into concrete?!

He's a (very) ex boyfriend of mine and there's always the distinct possibility that he's trying to nobble me brassicas   

Thanks X

[manicscousers]

Hiya, Trixie, no idea about your brassica nobbling lime but nice to see  you 

[Trixiebelle]

Hi Manics 

[BarriedaleNick]

Agricultutural or garden lime is mainly calcium carbonate.
Hydrated lime is calcium hydroxide.  As far as I know hydrated Lime has a use in the garden as a additive in Bordeaux mixture but I owuldn't put it on my soil in place of garden lime..

[DenBee]

Wotcher, chick. Done a spot of googling, and from what I can see hydraulic (as opposed to hydrated) lime does set in moisture.  So it might make yer cabbages a bit harder to pull out of the ground. 

[Pesky Wabbit]

What ever you do, DONT get it on your skin, it'll burn - deadly in cuts and scratches.

[Tee Gee]

This article might clarify things for you; http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Lime/Lime.htm

[Kepouros]

I don`t think Tee Gee`s article actually mentions hydraulic lime.  Hydraulic lime is, in fact the form of lime most commonly used for the strongest forms of lime mortar before the invention of the Portland cements. What distinguishes it from ordinary lime mortars is its ability to set strongly under water or in very wet conditions.  It differs in form and content from hydrated lime in that it`s hydraulic abilities are derived from the impurities of silica and clay in the original limestone which, when baked, give the hydraulic abilities.

It is definitely not recommended for normal garden use unless you want a hard alkaline crust.

My house is old enough to have been built with lime mortar, and many years ago when investigating an area perpetually plagued with plant chlorosis I excavated the soil and  18 or so inches down found the original pit where the lime mortar had been made from slaking in situ the quicklime.  It took several hours with a sledge hammer to break it all up into chunks small enough to be removed by hand.

[Trixiebelle]

Hi folks. Many thanks for the replies - I knew I could rely on you lot 

He swore BLIND that he'd phoned the 'technical department' of the builder's merchants who said that it was the very best thing for the garden  Building garden walls perhaps ....

I will think of alternative use for it. Maybe tip it into his underpants closely followed by a cup of water 

Thanks again X

PS: nice to see you Googling with your usual aplomb Den  X

[Buster54]

Just been reading on another Allotment forum a guy from Derbyshire has been using builders lime for years he mixes it with water then waters his brasicas in with it,so I think it all depends on how much you use compared to garden lime

[DenBee]

Put it in his underpants and mix it with water? 

Can't make the obvious joke - this isn't The Watershed. 

[Rhubarb Thrasher]

"Irish Viagra"

[little pud]

keep away from it, and him. 

[Trixiebelle]

keep away from it, and him. 

Wise words Little Pud!

Unfortunately I can't keep away from him because he's the father of my child! He keeps on coming back to pick up Alfie for parental visits!

He's a builder though .... I was after a new roof but got Alfie instead. Fair swap!

[Bjerreby]

Oooooooooohhhhhhhh. 

Whenever I am in contact with apprentices, I stress upon them the need to be explicit and precise in technical matters. We hear such a load of tripe sometimes.......you know, people talking about "Yang teak", or "I'd use stainless steel for that application", as though ferritic stainless steel is the same as austenitic stainless steel, or Dipterocarpus tuberculatus is the same as Tectona grandis.

If you heat pure calcium cabonate to 1000 degrees C using a blast of hot air, you drive off carbon dioxide and you get calcium oxide, which is "quick lime", or simply "lime". That process can be reversed depending on pressure and temperature.

If you add water to calcium oxide (quicklime / lime) you get  calcium hydroxide, called "slaked lime". This is what is mixed with sand to make mortar. When bricks are laid, carbon dioxide from the air reacts with the slaked lime to form, guess what, calcium carbonate, which is what "quick lime" was made from.

Gardeners should not use calcium hydroxide (slaked lime) on their veggie beds, they should use calcium oxide (quicklime / lime). When it rains, the calcium oxide gets washed down into the soil, and no lumps remain. Added in proper amounts it doesn't turn into calcium hydroxide because it has already reacted with the acids in the soil, neutralizing them, which is why quick lime was spread in the first place.

As Kepouros rightly points out, calcium carbonate (the staring material) contains impurities, such as clay. In fact, clay is deliberately added to calcium carbonate to make Portland cement.

I can't see what relevance the historic aspect has to the products Trixibelle has been given for her garden though.

The moral of it all is...............don't use builder's lime for soil improvement. It will cake, rather than neutralize the acids in the soil.

[manicscousers]

better than good swap, Trixie..roofs wear out, kids just get better