I am spreading/tilling fresh horse manure into the garden today..........a
friend told me i will get better results by adding lime. I have not checked
soil ph, but have added the same horse manure for last couple of years, and
vegetables seem to grow well. should I add lime? I

wrote:

I am spreading/tilling fresh horse manure into the garden today..........a
friend told me i will get better results by adding lime. I have not checked
soil ph, but have added the same horse manure for last couple of years, and
vegetables seem to grow well. should I add lime? I

What kind of manure and is it composted manure... be warned, horse/cow
manure is loaded with weed seeds, if it was hot composted most seeds
would be dead. If you are going to till anyway I recommend first
testing pH and add lime or acid as required. If you lime I recommend
granular, powdered is too messy. Use peat moss for adding acid.

On 10/10/2014 9:14 AM, wrote:
I am spreading/tilling fresh horse manure into the garden today..........a
friend told me i will get better results by adding lime. I have not checked
soil ph, but have added the same horse manure for last couple of years, and
vegetables seem to grow well. should I add lime? I


You must check the pH before adding lime. Where I live, the soils and
water both tend to be quite alkaline. Lime is rarely seen in nurseries.
Instead, I use significant amounts of sulfate fertilizers and elemental
sulfur to acidify my soil.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary

wrote:
I am spreading/tilling fresh horse manure into the garden
today..........a friend told me i will get better results by adding
lime. I have not checked soil ph, but have added the same horse
manure for last couple of years, and vegetables seem to grow well.
should I add lime? I

Only lime if you need to raise the pH. Test first in several places about
the plot. Some veges prefer a range a bit higher or lower but as a general
rule about pH 6-6.5 is good. You can get a dye indicator kit that is easy
to use and sufficiently accurate that will do hundreds of tests and is not
expensive. I have one from Manutec but that might not be available where
you are. I have no connection to them whatsoever I am just reporting what I
have.

--
David

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A better world requires a daily struggle
against those who would mislead us.

On 10/10/2014 11:14 AM, wrote:
I am spreading/tilling fresh horse manure into the garden today..........a
friend told me i will get better results by adding lime.

Why? Manure does not alter soil pH.

I have not checked
soil ph, but have added the same horse manure for last couple of years, and
vegetables seem to grow well. should I add lime?


Never add a product to change the soil pH until you've tested the
soil. If the test confirms that the soil pH needs adjusting, you then
will be able to determine what to use, and *how much* of it to apply
to achieve the desired result.

If you don't test ahead of time, at best you'll be wasting your money
and time by applying an unnecessary product. At worst you'll be making
your soil worse for growing whatever you plan to grow in it.