Soil pH and Lime Rate

Jarrod O. Miller, Ph.D.

University of Maryland Extension
Somerset County
What are the benefits of
lime?
• Neutralizes acidity

• Reduces toxicity of Al and Mn

• Adds Ca and Mg

• Improve soil biology

• Improve pesticide efficacy

What is pH?

• Pure water has H and OH in equal concentrations

H2O ↔ H+ + OH-
• Any addition of H+ makes the solution acidic

• Any addition of OH- makes the solution alkaline

• pH = Concentration of Hydrogen
• Then why does a lower pH mean more acid (H)?
What is pH?
pH = - log10 [H]

x10
Brady and Weil, 2000

SORRY IF YOU FIND THIS BORING, CUZ I DON’T.

What causes acidity in soils?

• H – Hydrogen
• Al – aluminum hydrolysis (splits water)

Al+3 + 3H2O Al(OH)3 + 3H+

• Fe – iron to a small extent
• Ca, Mg, K, and Na are all considered bases
• They don’t split water

Al and Fe can be related to soil mineralogy and weathering!

H can come from manure and fertilizers!
Comparing
soil pH

Most of our
agricultural
soils: pH 5 to 7
CO2 + H2O

H+ + HCO3-

Brady and Weil, 2001

What causes soils to be acidic?

Due to weathering

• Minerals
breakdown and
release Al3+ Warm
Wet
Climate

• Basic cations
leach out of the
soil before Al3+
• Al > Ca > Mg > K > Na Cool
Climate
The Eastern US gets more rainfall
Therefore more leaching and weathering

USDA Oregon State

Soil Types Precipitation

 Roadside
Geology

Parent material affects

1. Texture – sand, silt, clay
2. Mineral weathering (i.e.
nutrients available)
Soil test reports have two pH’s!?!
• pH – acidity active in the soil water
• Buffer pH – acidity held in reserve on the soil
Why do we need buffer pH?

pH probe
• With a regular pH we only measure acidity H
dissolved in the water -“active”
• The pH the crop and soil biology sees H H
H
• Indicates toxicity of Al and micronutrient
availability
H

• Buffer pH looks at acids held by the soil – “reserve”

• Exchangeable (CEC)
• Indicates lime additions needed H
Al

H H

Al
H
CEC helps explain reserve acidity
• Soils have negative charge (clay and organics)
• Many soil nutrients (Ca+2, Mg+2, K+1, Na+1) and acids (H, Al)
have positive charges (cations)
• Therefore, acidity can be absorbed to the soil and dissolved
in the soil water

Soil particle Soil water

Mg - - Ca

- - H
Exchange
Na K Ca
Mg
H - - H
H
K
H
Ca
- - Ca
 Buffer pH vs Buffer Capacity

• Buffer capacity is related to CEC – the amount of buffering

• Soils with higher CEC have greater “buffer capacity”
• Slows rapid pH change up or down – good for soil biology
• Greater buffer capacity should correlate to lower buffer pH!

Ca
Al H
Ca
H K

Mg Mg
K
Base Saturation

• Bases – Ca, Mg, K, Na

• Acids – Al, H (reserve)

Mg - - H Mg - - Ca
Ca - - H Ca - - K

K - - Al
K - - H
Na
- - Al Ca
- - Al

50% B.S. 75% B.S.

Lower pH
High CEC vs Low CEC = lime added

Mg
- - H
Ca
- - H Soil with low CEC

-
can quickly become
K - Al over limed
Na
- - Al
Mg - - H Mg - - H
Ca - - H Ca - - Al

K - - Al
K - - H
Na
- - Al Ca
- - Al

50% B.S. 50% B.S.

Same amount of lime has different effects

Variation in CEC occurs with pH
Mostly due to organic matter, some due to oxides

Pratt and Bair, 1962 Helling et al., 1964

Whole soil CEC with pH CEC due to organic matter and clay
Buffer capacity
Brady and Weil, 2001

• Al/Fe oxides buffer low pH

• Carbonates buffer alkaline soils
• CEC buffers neutral pH
How is buffer pH measured?

Solution pH = 8.0
• Soil is placed in a
Mg Ca buffer solution with
alkaline pH
Na H

K • Soil acidity reacts with

H
the buffer
Ca Ca

• Lowers the solution pH

Therefore, lower relative buffer pH = more soil acidity

Soil variability = different buffer pH tests

Sims, 1996
Ask what kind of buffer pH the lab runs
(Check each lab)
• Shoemaker-McLean-Pratt Single Buffer (SMP)
• Meant for soils with high lime requirements but low organic
matter (OM) content of <10%. Based out of Ohio soils.
• Underestimates in high OM soils
• Adams-Evans
• For soils with low CEC and low OM
• Good for extremely small differences
• May over-estimate pH dependent acidity
• Mehlich Single Buffer
• Good for reducing exchangeable acidity (Al) at pH 5.5
• Best for soils with low CEC
• What about crop needs?

Each method will have tables to determine the lime addition

All tests have their own calibrations and tables

Sims, 1996

Brady and Weil, 2001

Target pH is important!
Adams-Evans lime table for target pH 6.0
You have your buffer pH, now what?

• You may have a

recommendation related to
your crop type

• Target pH become very

important
 We don’t need a pH 7 for crops

• Al is toxic to plant roots below pH 5.5

• Hydrogen isn’t an issue until below pH 4.0
• Mn and Fe can also be toxic

• You may lose access to micronutrients

when pH is too high

• Organic matter can bind Al, so you can

have a lower pH in highly organic soils
• pH can go as low as 5.0 without Al problems!
Target pH can be related to crop response
(not just Aluminum toxicity)

Penn State
Target pH can be related to P availability
Target pH can also
be related to
micronutrients

Micronutrient
availability
varies with pH
Predicting micronutrients is tough
• It’s easier to figure out how to limit Al toxicity

• Soil type and texture may predict micronutrients availability/toxicity

Soil Mn levels necessary at different pH

Camberato, 2000 – Clemson Extension

Low pH causes toxicity though!

Mn can be toxic in soils at low pH, but

we probably don’t have high enough
concentrations

pH drops
below 5.5

Dissolved Fe and Al
Fe/Al oxide coatings on soil are
only a problem if they dissolve
 Sandy vs Clay

Recommend pH 6.0 Recommend pH 6.5

• Low CEC and • Higher CEC

nutrient holding • May weather faster
• Low weathering and • Greater micronutrients
release of nutrients
• Low micronutrients
Soil tillage and mixing
Soybean with Mn deficiency

pH 7

pH 6.5

pH 6.0

0-2 inches

2-4 inches
Soil tillage and mixing
Soil pH = 7.0

• Soil and leaf tissue

were deficient in
Mn
• Leaf was deficient
in Cu, soil was not
What does Cu deficiency look like?

Jarrod Miller

http://www.atpnutrition.ca/plant-nutrition/copper/
Do I have a lime issue?
Scout your fields and take tissue samples

Jarrod Miller

Jarrod Miller
 Mn or Fe?
• Interveinal chlorosis on • Interveinal chlorosis on
upper leaves upper leaves

• Dark green veins • Dark green veins

• Brown necrosis when • Brown necrosis when

severe severe

• Occurs on high pH soils • Occurs on high pH soils

Nebraska Nebraska
 Mn or Fe?

Michigan State Iowa State

Mississippi State
Purdue

Virginia Tech Pioneer

Evaluating the Lime Requirement

• Lab tests are not equal for all soils

• Understand soils have varying

amounts of acidity
• Buffer capacity will vary with
texture and organic matter

• Scout your fields when limed

• Give lime plenty of time to react

before planting
Questions?