Soil liming

Introduction

 Essential for the control of soil acidity (soil pH)

for maximum benefit from fertilisers

 Since its purpose is not to supply nutrients,

lime is generally referred to as a soil
amendment and not as a crop fertiliser

 Lime also improves soil structure mainly

through its influence on microbial activity
influencing humus formation
In Zimbabwe, low soil pH is a major
problem:

o History of extensive N fertiliser use

o Prolonged low rates of basic fertiliser use

o Off-take of bases through continual

harvesting of produce
Soil pH and its measurement:

 pH is the negative logarithm of hydrogen

ion concentration in the soil solution

 Soil pH measurement is affected by:

o Amount of water added to the soil to
make the test: the greater the amount of
water used, the higher the pH value
o Concentration of soluble salts (nutrients)
present in the soil; affected by decomposing
OM, application of fertilisers and leaching

o Soil pH therefore varies according to the

time of year when the sample was taken

Calcium chloride method:

o Uses a dilute solution of CaCl which has

similar salinity to that of a normal soil
solution in the field
o This method suffers less from the influence of
water in solution and seasonal fluctuations in
nutrient levels

Effect of acidity on plant growth and

nutrient supply:

It is not the H+ concentration that

adversely affect plant growth but the high
levels of Al+ in solution at low pH
At low pH, OM mineralization is reduced
leading to decreased availability of N and S

At high pH (>7), P availability is reduced by

the formation of insoluble Ca phosphates

Under acid conditions, P may be less

available due to adsorption onto
sesquioxides surfaces or due to
precipitation as Al or Fe phosphates
Under acid conditions, P may be less
available due to adsorption onto
sesquioxides surfaces or due to precipitation
as Al or Fe phosphates

Solubility of most minerals tend to increase

under acid conditions. The supply of Ca, Mg
and K from soil minerals is likely to be
enhanced at low pH
At low pH the presence of tightly held Al3+
on exchange sites means that the bases
which are loosely held are prone to leaching

Mn, Cu, Zn, Fe are available in solution at

low pH; high pH result in these micro-
nutrient deficiencies
Correction of soil acidity:
Liming primarily to remove Al toxicity

Liming to raise pH to 7 is generally not

recommended:

o Over-liming induces P, Cu, Zn, Mn and B

deficiency

o Over-liming hard to correct because

acidification materials are expensive and
not practically available in Zimbabwe
Liming to pH 5.5-6.5 is recommended, but
the % CEC occupied by Al3+ is a better
indicator of acid soil problems

Acid sensitive plants: soyabean, sunflower,

lucerne, cotton, tobacco, lucaena – these
show maximum growth when there is no
Al3+ (pH 5.5-6.5)
Most plants (e.g. Maize, small grains,
wheat, sweet potato, Irish potato) only have
reduced growth when Al saturation % of
CEC exceeds 20% (pH < 5.0 - 5.5)

Acid tolerant plants: cowpea, upland rice,

cassava, peanut and some tropical pasture
legumes – these can tolerate higher values
of Al saturation % (pH < 4.5)
Exceptionally acid (pH < 4) tolerant crops
include: mangoes, citrus, tea, coffee, cashew,
granadilla, pineapples

Some soils in the Eastern highlands of

Zimbabwe have Al saturation % of up to 50 %
(pH 4.5)

Groundnut vegetative growth is very acid

tolerant but fruiting requires high Ca levels
hence liming may be applied for this purpose.
Liming requirement:

Lime is applied to neutralise the Al that is on

the exchange sites i.e. to replace Al with Ca (or
Mg).

Lime requirement is therefore determined by

the amount of exchangeable Al in the soil

E.g. A soil with 60 % Al saturation would

require more lime than a soil with 20 % Al
saturation
 A soil sample can be incubated with lime in the
laboratory order to attain a certain pH

 Alternatively the soil can be shaken with a buffer

solution – when a soil is mixed with a buffer
solution, the resultant pH of the mixture drops;
the drop in pH that occurs can be correlated with
the lime requirement of the soil

Lime requirements can be estimated from

experience: 2t/ha lime raises pH of a clay soil by
one unit; only 500 kg/ha lime would be needed
for a sandy soil
Liming materials:

Liming materials work if they can displace Al

from exchange sites and precipitate the
released Al out of solution

E.g. CaCO3. Ca displaces Al, which then is

tied up as highly insoluble Al carbonate
In theory carbonates/hydroxides of other
bases (e.g. K, Ca, Mg, Na) would also be
liming agents

Sulphates/chlorides/nitrates of K, Na, Mg
would displace Al from exchange sites but
Al will remain as free Al3+ since
Aluminium sulphate/chloride/nitrate are
soluble in solution; this will actually
increase the acidity
Common liming materials:

o CaCO3 (limestone called calcite; calcitic

limestone); common liming material

o CaMg(CO3 )2 (limestone called dolomite;

dolomitic limestone)
o occasionally Ca(OH)2 builders lime;
hydroxide of lime); produced by adding
water to quicklime and is often called
slaked lime; more caustic than quicklime
hence difficult to handle

o CaO: commercial referred to as

quicklime; made by heating limestone
to drive off CO2 gas; more caustic than
limestone and is therefore more difficult
to handle
The liming strength/neutralising capacity of
liming materials is standardized by
comparison with pure CaCO3

CaCO3 is taken as 100 % effective (molecular

weight = 100g)

Molecular weight of Ca(OH)2 is 74g;

therefore 100kg of pure CaCO3 is equivalent
to 74kg of pure Ca(OH)2; the CaCO3
equivalent of Ca(OH)2 is [(100/74)*(100%)] =
Thus Ca(OH)2 is 135 % as effective as CaCO3
in reducing acidity and less is needed to
achieve the same reduction in acidity

Lime needs to be finely ground for

effectiveness; but this is more expensive to
produce.

Finely ground lime may be 50% reacted in

the field after 2 months whereas coarse lime
may only be 10% reacted after the same
period
However finely ground lime is more difficult
to handle than coarsely ground lime

 Lime does not move in the soil and must

be mixed thoroughly throughout the soil in
order for it to react
pH ranges for Zimbabwean soils:

Standard pH measurements in Zimbabwe

are normally carried out in dilute CaCl2
solution (0.01M) with a soil/solution ratio
of 1:5
 Table: pH ranges for Zimbabwean soils
pH pH classification
<4.0 extremely acid
4.0-4.5 very strongly acid
4.5-5.0 strongly acid
5.0-5.5 medium acid
5.5-6.0 slightly acid
6.0-6.5 neutral
6.5-7.0 mildly alkaline
7.0-7.5 alkaline
>7.5 strongly alkaline
END