Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Quality Deer Management Lime?

When is too late to lime? Was going to already but may place is like a lake/bog we got soo much tremendous rain last few weeks - we hav for several years now but especially last few weeks. If rain holds off rest of week - i may be able to Saturday. Of course - great chance it still flooding by then.
Is early august 2 late ?? Will try before then if schedule n rain allows. I plant oct 1-12 time range

It is never too late! The best time is early spring if it is ag lime, but again, it is never too late. Later will help a little this year, but will really help next year. If you get your PH right, you will only have to lime ever three years or so normally.

Tdog we were planning on using Ag lime, but due to lack of equipment resources we are going to use pelletized lime. It works fairly quickly and is not terribly expensive if you don't need a crap load. Not going to be fun spreading it though.

My big field ph is 4.3

Other fields 4.6

First time i ever checked

Thanks

Thats bad, real bad......if you fertilize, you might as well spread half of it and dump the other half in the river. Thats about how much of it the plants are getting. You need about 2ton to the acre. My garden spot was similar to that the first time i checked it, the production sucked. I disked in some pelletized lime and it went up immediately. My ground was also low in organic material. I added gin trash and that made a world of difference. I know youre working with too much ground to do that but you likely need to consider a cover crop that eill add some organic material to your soil. You dont just need to lime it, you need to build it.

yeeeee.

u got start somewhere and no better time than now. the difference one point will make coming from where you’re at now will be noticeable, some foliar apps once the plants are up this fall for micros will be abt as good as u can get

Ouch Tdog, that's rough. I thought my 5.3 spots were bad low. Pelletized lime won't be the route for you to go unless you have some folks that hunt with you to split the cost. Also, PM sent

^^
Got it and thanks

I hav never done anything after planting either. Could extra fertilizer later weeks after planting help? What type?

Think i may try to atleast lime my big field this year

Good advice,,,,,,,,,,,

If I fertilize/plant in October, I usually hit the plots a couple weeks before Christmas with some 34-0-0 to green them back up before the rut kicks off good. You really need lime to get your pH up though, or you will be wasting your money and effort.

^^
Thanks

What is a good cover crop u speak of JW / CNC?

Lot of my soil is ugly red clay

Fertilizer isnt going to help much at all until you get your ph up about two points. At 4.3 you could literally poison your plants with fertilized before they would get the full amount they need. The plants can only utilize 1/2 the fertilizer. Spend your fertilizer m9ney on lime. You need lime and green manure.

Brown top millet is cheap, easy to establish, and will provide carbon and OM. Buckwheat is also an excellent choice.

The trouble these days is not so much the cost of lime -- it is getting the lime spread out. Years ago co-ops and seed stores did this, but not now. They may do a farmers pasture, but won't come to a club and spread it. Deliver it, yes, spread it no. If you are lucky you may be able to rent a buggy from the people you buy the lime from, but that is all.
We all know the need, getting it done is something else.

Pell city co-op came and spread 6 tons for me last year for $300.

You were VERY lucky! 9 out of 10 co-ops probably would not have done that. I bet I called at least eight places the last time we limed and none of them would spread it.

Yeah, the reason most people wont spread it is because roads aren't wide enough for the lime trucks and they don't want to scratch them up or bust a tire. Our roads are wide.

This is right. Just for reference I had a rear float tire come off the rim this year and had to pay $460 just to get it put back on the rim and holding air. Had I had to have replaced the tire it would have been thousands of dollars. My truck is 10’ wide and about the same height and it will not fit where I hunt so I can’t use it. Very few places have roads decent enough for a spreader truck to go and even if they do you won’t be spreading enough lime to justify the cost and liability of tearing it up, getting stuck, etc.

This would be my worry also.

As of at least a couple of years ago, Pike Co coop would bring a spreader truck and do your plots. At the time, I think lime was like $30 a ton, $40 a ton spread on ag fields and $60 a ton on food plots.