Topic: Too much lime

[JimmyJames]

My allium beds are pretty much ready for me to plant some onion sets in, but I realised the soil might need a quick dose of lime.  I didnt add any over winter, so I hoped it would be ok to add now.
I have never actually tested the pH but the chap on the plot next to mine says he always adds a bit of lime for his greens.

The lime came in a carboard box similar to a washing powder box.  I opened the hole on the side a shook some on 'shake n vac' style.  I was quite shocked when I managed to deposit a good 2/3 of the packet onto the ground in about 2 seconds!  It was a lot more free flowing than I had anticipated!

I tried as best I could to remove some of the excess, but I think the amount left on the ground would constitute an overdose!

Basic question is...   what are the implications of too much lime?  Will the plants suffer/die?  Will the produce still be edible?

I cant be sure of the extent of the overdose, but would I be well advised to test the pH of the soil before planting?
We had a good shower of rain last night so that should have washed it into the soil by now...

[Old bird]

Oo'er!  I don't rightly know!

Good luch anyway - baccy man will probably know this one!

Old Bird

 ;D

[Tee Gee]

What sort of weight was the box?

I think it unlikely that you will have done much damage unless the soil was limy in the first place.

Here are some spreading rates; http://tinyurl.com/yf7byh

[djbrenton]

You should be Ok as alliums can stand lime. You only need to add lime for onions if you've quite acid soils though. Your neighbour adding it for greens doesn't mean anything as it's standard to reduce acidity for brassica.

[JimmyJames]

Thanks for the replies.

In answer to the questions from Tee Gee, the box was a 3kg one.

Suggested use was 300g per square metre.  The bed I dumped over 2kgs onto was 3 m2, so I guess it was only just over a double dose.  Hopefully I managed to remove enough of it (by moving it to the other bed) for the impact to be quite low.

Doesnt seem so bad now that I think about it :)

[Barnowl]

How do you measure 300g, or 35g for that matter, of powder - we don't all carry scales around with us?   

300g I can have a reasonable guess at (bit over 1/2 pound of butter) but 35g is too little.