What can be added to PFP Custom Blends?
Custom Blends that can include a wide range of minerals and trace elements (see below), are available subject to minimum order quantities and production schedule availability.
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PLEASE NOTE: Advanced manufacturing bookings are essential.
Please contact us to discuss your individual needs.
How can 250kg/ha be as effective as 2 ½ tons/ha of conventional Lime?
When it comes to Lime, “It’s not the tons per ha that raises pH, it is the available surface area of Calcium carbonate that counts”. It’s a scientific fact that reducing particle size increases Lime’s efficiency exponentially because, as particle sizes are reduced the available surface area of it’s Calcium carbonate content increases dramatically. to explain; a single 2mm chip of limestone has a surface area of only 24 square mm, however if we grind that same 2mm chip down to less than 20 micron we increase the surface area to an astonishing 2,400 square mm.
Over the last fifty years, scientific work in the USA, Scandinavian and Austalia clearly demonstrates that finely ground particles of Lime have a much greater and swifter effect on raising soil pH then coarse particles.
It’s unfortunate that those who continue to denounce the effectiveness of fine particle Lime must be basing their opinions on well-outdated scientific tests and models that “assumed” Lime particles of less than a quarter of a mm were 100% available. The widely held belief that the coarse particles in conventional Lime become effective over a couple of years after application has been proven to be a fallacy.
How quickly will it work?
PFP’s prilled ultra-fine particle products start to break down as soon as they become wet from rain or even heavy dew. As our Prills break down the fine particles enter the soil quickly raising soil pH. Tests show that the fine particle Lime will have become fully effective in a matter of weeks after significant rain.
Will it last?
Yes, of course! To understand why, we need to understand a few basic facts;
- It is the carbonate in Lime, (not the Calcium), that raises pH by neutralising the acidic Hydrogen in the soil.
- Soil pH gradually becomes more acidic over time. This is a result of natural soil processes including the fact that, as plants remove alkaline nutrients from the soil they leave acidic Hydrogen behind. As a rule of thumb soil pH will drop by approx 0.1 per year if no liming materials are applied.
- When we apply Lime and the carbonate has raised soil pH, the Lime has done its job. The reason that soil pH gradually becomes more acidic after liming, is not because the Lime has “run out”, it is just a natural process.
- From the above you will be able to understand that, if we apply any liming material that raises soil pH by say 0.2, and, over the following two years natural processes drop pH by 0.1 per year, then as far as soil pH is concerned, at the end of the year two the soil pH will be back to where we started.
- So, whether we quickly raise soil pH by 0.2 by applying only 250kg/ha of high purity ultra-fine particle Lime, or slowly over a year by applying 2 ½ tons of a coarse liming material, the lasting power is the same.
In conclusion, you can be confident that low application rates of PFP Lime will give you fast results that will last.
Being so fine, will it leach away?
Fine particle Lime does not leach away. Liming is a chemical reaction between the carbonate int he Lime and the acidic Hydrogen left by plants on the soils Cation Exchange Sites. The end result of the liming chemical reaction is that the carbonate combines with the acidic Hydrogen producing CO2 and water. This reaction leaves the Calcium, (that was in the Lime), chemically bonded tot he Cation Exchange Site. Unlike coarse particle products, the ultra-fine Lime particles in PFP Lime do have the ability to penetrate deeper into the soil structure where they are able to also raise sub-soil pH.
How do I decide on a Lime application rate?
- The first step is to decide on your target soil pH level. Our research shows that a pH between 6.0 and 6.3 is an optimum level. In this range nutrients and trace elements are chemically most plant available and also above pH 6.0 the soils microbial life are also at their most active.
- Understand that soil pH drops naturally by about 0.1 per year, and that our experience shows that to counteract that change will require either 100kg/ha of PFP Lime Prills or 1 ton/ha of good quality Ag-Lime, (depending on soil conditions).
- Decide whether you wish to maintain, or to raise your existing pH levels. If you wish to maintain your existing levels use the application rate in (2) above.
- If you wish to raise pH levels then we suggest applying between 100 and 300 kg/ha of PFP Lime Prills or 1 and 3 tons/ha of good quality Ag-Lime.