Round Up and Lime
Whitetail Deer
How long after applying Round Up should I wait before applying lime?
Don't want to disc the lime in until your weeds/grass have died. I usually wait 8/10 days.
So after spraying roundup, watching weeds/grass turn brown, and then discing... do you guys wait for weeds to start growing again to hit them one more time with roundup before planting the food plot?
I heard that discing brings new weed seeds up to the surface, which can restart the problem.
Depends is the best answer for your question. The soil can be full of seeds and light, moisture, temperature and probably a host of other factors may induce weed seed germination. If you have a heavy seed bank in the soil, yes you may want to do what you suggest. Experience with your land and time of year or the time you have for planting may be your best indicators on what to do.
NEVER SPRAY ROUNDUP (or other glyphosates)ONCE AND THEN WITHIN A FEW DAYS OR WEEKS REAPPLY IT.......it's a great way to build up roundup resistance and pretty soon roundup will not work on weeds anymore...
Lime takes up to 6 months to work so, people should have been applying their lime last fall or during the winter!!!
You can apply the next day. Not mandatory that you disc in as rainfall will gradually move it into the soil profile.
Nutritionist has it right...If you are putting down ag lime it should have been applied last fall to have any chance of raising the ph to suitable levels you are looking for when planting in the spring especially if you ph is low to begin with.
Sould of went further........by tilling in lime, you simply create a new seedbed for dormant seed to sprout. If you can spray and then apply lime without incorporating, you won't prepare that new seed bed and hence not as bad of flush of new weeds after you've killed the old ones.
"Nutritionist has it right...If you are putting down ag lime it should have been applied last fall"
x 2
Ok, i'll let you all in on a trick for those of you who should have applied lime last fall but didn't. I might know someone who has a product that is time released foliar calcium that is absorbed through the plant and that helps some for those who need more immediate success.
Again, lime is only 1 part of the equation....
In some of my food plots, my pH is only 5.5 and yet I have 5 foot tall brassica's and some of the greenest and most productive plots out there. I always ask this question when I do seminars as to how this is possible and only one person has ever been able to get it right but now you all know the answer.....
The thing most of you aren't told is......if you have a HIGH ORGANIC MATTER, you can get away with a slightly lower pH and still have success.
This is why i believe in PLOT ROTATION, soil building and why i have came up with some unique products and am working on some others to ALWAYS LOOK 1 YEAR AHEAD!!
pelletized lime is also MUCH more expensive
The rate of lime absorption, without tilling, is crazy slow, like 1/4" of soil per year. I lightly till mine in and am always thinking about my PH for the following year, not the year I am applying.
For new plots, I hit it with gly 3 times. Once to kill what is growing, then I lime and till it in. And then lime/till one more time. I have averaged a half point increase in PH per year.
One thing i want to throw out there is MAKE SURE YOUR PROPERLY TAKING A SOIL TEST. Test results are only as good and accurate as the process used to collect the said sample.
Everything in nature is about simple chemistry. Everything has a positive and negative charge. pH, and liming is only one part of the equation.
There are numerous forms of limes, particle size wise as well as with the level of magnesium included in the lime.
For example one could use super fine calcium, like the type one could white-wash the barn. It is broken down rapidly but a real bummer to spread across the field. There is gypsum, which is heavily needed in many areas of Wisconsin, that are also sulfur deficient.
There is the foliar applied calcium's, which have their place if incorporated properly and in balance.
Again, if one follows a plot rotation program, and knowing what your planning to plant, pH becomes less of a factor.
First question I ask people isn't WHAT IS YOUR pH. That's what the "it's a bag of seed" guys do. Tell me, where do you live. Tell me when do you plan to plant. Tell me what your trying to accomplish. Tell me what is your budget. Tell me what you hope to plant.
If it takes 6 months for lime to "get into the soil" why are the farmers in my area spreading it now?
"If it takes 6 months for lime to "get into the soil" why are the farmers in my area spreading it now? "
I would think to maintain proper levels.
We usually put down lime anytime we till/disc the ground. Gets it right into soil and helps maintain acceptable levels
The reason farmers are putting on lime now is to maintain levels. They may only be putting down a ton per acre. In my area there are only so many suppliers so the waiting list is long and the drivers that spread it are going from dawn to dusk. Also a lot of the fields that are getting lime now had corn still standing last fall
good farmers dont wait until the pH is 5.0 and needs a quick fix ......... farmers plan ahead and keep their pH and fertility levels at the economic threshold for maximum yield.
Killing with roundup and then waiting to till in lime will generate a new set of competition and you will later need to round it up too so that's a good practice to help eleminate different layers of competition.
4labs....you are probably seeing farmers spread fertilizer now, not many spread lime in the spring, its mostly a fall thing. Not saying you cant do it in the spring though, you can spread anytime.
Materials commonly used as lime are either ground-up limestone rock, ground-up marl or products of limestone which have been altered by burning to make them more water soluble than the ground-up rock itself. By far the most common liming material in Kentucky is ground limestone (aglime), most of which is calcium carbonate. In some instances, there is enough magnesium carbonate present for the lime to be termed “dolomitic.”
When applied to soil, the liming material reacts with soil moisture to release particles of calcium or, in the case of dolomitic lime, magnesium. The rate at which the lime material dissolves to release these particles is largely controlled by how finely it is ground and the chemical form of the material (carbonate, oxide or hydroxide). The finer the material, the more rapidly it dissolves. Oxides (burned lime) and hydroxides (hydrated lime) are more soluble in water and react much more quickly than carbonate forms of lime (calcitic aglime or dolomitic aglime).
Calcium or magnesium particles are attracted to and are held by clay particles in soils after the liming material dissolves. This neutralizes soil acidity, increasing soil pH readings. It also means that lime does not move very fast downward through soil. With the exception of extremely sandy soils, there is no concern in Kentucky over leaching losses of lime. For this reason, lime can be applied whenever practical, although it should be applied far enough before planting to allow time for adequately reacting with the soil and neutralizing acidity.
nutritionist, very good, detailed info.
