Soil Amendment Conditioners Moeco NT Ultra fine liming products CEC balanced dolomite gypsum lime boron BFA registered organic certified crop horticulture agriculture garden lawn orchard

Soil Amendment Range Ultra Fine Liming products available in 10L (easy to use) or 1,000L IBC

ALLOWED INPUT 8001AI
BFA REGISTERED PRODUCT

General Information

Name:

Liquid Ultra Fine Liming Range:
CEC Balanced, Dolomite, Gypsum, Lime + Boron

Use:

Amend soil conditions: adjust pH, ameliorate sodic soils, clay breaker, balance the cation ratio

Size:

10 litre (easy to use) or 1,000L IBC

MSDS:

Material Safety Data Sheet available here (pdf file 115 KB)

Applications:

Soil analysis interpretations, Calculating the liming requirement to adjust pH only, Methods, Compatibility with other products

Technical Details

More efficient in reaching desired soil amendment goals than traditional liming products due to the ultra fine particles having greater solubility* for faster correction of soil conditions.

Less wastage as all product dissolves unlike traditional liming products.

Use considerably less product. Approximately 30 litres of Ultra Fine Liming product has the same effect as 1 tonne of traditional liming product on the pH of soil.

Reduced application labour as applications can be via fertigation or irrigation systems thus supplying where needed, when needed without dust and undue labour.

Reduced freight costs.

No special storage requirements.

Suitable for flower beds, market gardens, orchards, tree plantations, crops from small requirements to large commercial horticultural situations.

*greater solubility: the larger the surface area, the faster the product will dissolve. The surface area of a typical particle size of Aglime represents approximately 0.00016 m² per gram of product whereas the surface area of a typical particle size of Moeco Liquid Ultra Fine Lime represents 3.5 m²per gram of product ie. 2,100 times more surface area per gram of product.

Liquid Ultra Fine CEC Balanced

Use:

Used where pH is low with an acceptable cation ratio
pH is low but no recent soil analysis is available

Benefits:

- Will not aggravate any existing imbalances
- Beneficial to the soil even if soil analysis is unavailable
- Supplies calcium, magnesium and potassium in the correct cation ratio (7:1:1).

Analysis:

Element Analysis		%	Present as:

Calcium	(Ca)	30	Calcium carbonate
Magnesium	(Mg)	4	Magnesium carbonate
Potassium	(K)	5	Potassium carbonate

Liquid Ultra Fine Dolomite

Use:

Use where pH is low and extra magnesium is required to balance the Ca/Mg ratio.

Benefits:

- Approx 25-30 L of liquid dolomite has the same liming effect as 1 tonne of dolomitic limestone.

Analysis:

Element Analysis		%	Present as:

Calcium	(Ca)	30	Calcium carbonate
Magnesium	(Mg)	10	Magnesium carbonates

Liquid Ultra Fine Gypsum

Use:

Clay breaker and to ameliorate sodic soils

Benefits:

- Supplies much needed calcium and sulphur to plants without adjusting the pH
- Improves soil textures and drainage
- Reduces sodium in saline soils
- Supplies calcium and sulphur required for commercial cropping

Analysis:

Element Analysis		%	Present as:

Calcium	(Ca)	30	Calcium sulphate
Sulphur	(S)	22.5	Calcium sulphate

Liquid Ultra Fine Lime + Boron

Use:

Raise pH over a relatively short time

Benefits:

- Boron assists uptake of calcium
- Aids pH rise more rapidly than traditional Aglime
- Approx 25-30 L of liquid lime + boron has the same liming effect as 1 tonne of solid Aglime.

Analysis:

Element Analysis		%	Present as:

Calcium	(Ca)	40	Calcium carbonate
Boron	(B)	0.25	Potassium borate

Soil analysis interpretations

A comprehensive soil analysis is vital to calculate a correct and cost-efficient liming regime. The two most important parameters are pH and the Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC), represented by the exchangeable cations, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium and aluminium. Amendment regimes should also ensure a balanced cation ratio (approx 7 parts calcium : 1 part magnesium : 1 part potassium) is maintained to avoid nutrients becoming tied-up. Deficiencies of other macro and micronutrients also need to be addressed in the liming regime to be truly efficient. The liming product/s that will address all or most of the required amendments and deficiencies while not exasperating other problems should be selected. Moeco offers an interpretation service of your soil analysis for this purpose.

The table below shows the preferred levels of the abovementioned parameters.

Soil Analysis

Parameter	Preferred level

pH (measurement of acidity/alkalinity)*	pH (CaCl₂) 5.5 - 6.5 pH (H₂O) 6.0 - 7.0
Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC)	Dependant on region (meq/100 total)
CEC is represented by the exchangeable cations:
Calcium	65-80% (4-6 meq/100g)
Magnesium	10-20% (1-2 meq/100g)
Potassium	2-6% (0.3-0.5 meq/100g)
Sodium	< 2% (0 meq/100g)
Aluminium	< 2% (0 meq/100g

Note: Sodium and aluminium are phytotoxic when present in excess of 2% of the total CEC.

* pH is measured in either a calcium chloride solution pH (CaCl₂), which is the preferred test by soil analysts, or in water pH (H₂O) which generally gives a result 0.5 higher.

No comprehensive soil analysis ?
In the absence of a comprehensive soil analysis it is advisable to use Liquid Ultra Fine CEC Balanced as it does not aggravate any existing imbalances within the soil and does not change the cation ratio. A soil analysis is strongly recommended as application rates can only be based on a broad estimate of a typical soil analysis for the region.

Calculating liming requirements to adjust the pH only
To be able to calculate the liming requirements, we need to know what amount of liming product is required per square metre (or per hectare) to increase the pH by 1 for each unit (meq/100) of CEC.

Increasing the pH by 1 requires 1.2 ml/m² (or 12 L/HA) of any of the Liquid Ultra Fine Liming products (except Gypsum) per unit (meq/100) of CEC.

Example Soil Analysis

Parameter	Preferred level

pH (CaCl₂) = 4.8	5.5 - 6.5
Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) = 3.5 meq/100	Dependant on region (meq/100)

The desired pH of the above soil is 6.3, an increase of 1.5 units.

A pH increase of 1.5 will require 1.8 ml/m² of liming product per CEC (meq/100):
ie. pH 1.5 x 1.2 ml/m² = 1.8 ml/m²

The CEC = 3.5 meq/100 therefore, 1.8 ml/m² x 3.5 = 6.3 ml/m² or (63 L/HA) of liming product.

This will raise the pH within 2 weeks in most cases.

The following table can be used to calculate the liming requirements from a soil analysis result to adjust the pH (CaCl₂) to 6.5 (or pH (H₂O) to 7.0) per unit of meq/100 CEC. This table also compares the volume of traditional liming products to the volume of Liquid Ultra Fine Liming products required to make the same pH adjustment.

Adjust pH(CaCl₂) to 6.5 from:	Adjust pH(H₂O) to 7.0 from:	Liquid Ultra Fine: Lime, Dolomite or CEC Balanced		Aglime or Dolomite
Adjust pH(CaCl₂) to 6.5 from:	Adjust pH(H₂O) to 7.0 from:	Millilitres/m² required per CEC unit (meq/100)	Litres/HA required per CEC unit (meq/100)	Grams/m² required per CEC unit (meq/100)	Tonnes/HA required per CEC unit (meq/100)
4.0	4.5	3.0	30	100	1.0
4.5	5.0	2.5	25	85	0.85
5.0	5.5	2.0	20	65	0.65
5.5	6.0	1.5	15	50	0.50
6.0	6.5	1.0	10	35	0.35

Note: When adjusting the pH of the soil, careful consideration should be given to what effect the liming product chosen will have on other required amendments and deficiencies identified in a soil analysis. Moeco offers a full amendment and deficiency correction regime interpreted from your soil analysis for this purpose.

Method of Application

All of the Liquid Ultra Fine Liming Range products can be applied by any of the following methods: watering can, boom spray (tank requires agitator)*, irrigation systems eg. injectors, fertigators or the Moeigator using drippers, low level or overhead sprinklers (tank requires agitator)*.

Important: As the products were developed for soil amendment, they are NOT recommended for foliar application, however, for broad acre application on fallow land, ultra-low volume air blasting and aerial spray can be used.

Caution: when using ultra-low volume air blasting or aerial spray it is recommended to wear a dust/mist mask or respirator.

Method	Dilution

Fertigation using pressurised tank	1:1 (1 part concentrate to 1 part water) Flush with fresh water to prevent excessive settling
All other methods	1:10 (1 part concentrate to 10 parts water)

*When using boom spray or injection, fill the tank with about half the water required, add the liquid liming product, start the agitator and then add the remainder of the water.

Compatibility with other Products

Most of the Moeco fertilisers are compatible with the Liquid Ultra Fine Liming Range but a a notable exception is the Neemtech Insecticidal Potassium Soap. It is recommended to check compatibility by mixing the same ratios of products intended to apply in a glass jar.