How fast does lime work to alter the soil’s pH?

By Grant Woods,

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Hi, my name is Duane Spurgin. I have mainly hunted public ground my whole life but I have recently acquired permission on a 60 acre tract of land. I am located in central Missouri. (Phelps county to be exact) The landowner has given me permission to plant a couple small food plots. Both are approximately between 1/4 to 1/2 acre. I am new to planting food plots so I’m looking for any advice as to what to plant. I’ve done some research and everything strongly recommends lime but I don’t have the time to adjust the pH with bow season quickly approaching and planting season about 2 weeks away. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and god bless

Duane,

Congratulations on accurate some land the manage and hunt!!

It can take months for normal ag lime to totally react with soil. However, the finer particles will begin reacting with the soil within days if there is adequate soil moisture.  I suggest you go ahead and apply lime now. The crops will get some benefit now and more as they mature throughout the fall! 

The finer the grind of lime the faster it reacts with soil. There are some sources of very finely ground lime that has been pelletized so it’s easy to spread.  I did some research on high quality pelletized lime years ago and it substantially improved the soil’s pH in a month!  

Whether you use standard ag lime or high quality pelletized lime I suggest you spread it as soon as you can!

Enjoy creation!