I am fixing to add 10 more tons of lime to my 2.5 acre pond. Is it ok to just drive around the pond and spread the lime around the entire perimiter or is it important to get in a boat and spread it in the middle as well. Thanks, Jake

i've added lime to my lake twice.i was told it is best to spread all around lake,so i did this.it was very hard work loading onto boat that we rigged up.the second time i put around edges of pond and everything worked just fine.to answer your question i think the pro's will tell you to spread over the lake,put the 2nd option does work.good luck.

You can use a 8hp trash pump reduce output end to 1" and shoot out over pond. Place suction in lake on top of a couple rocks have someone apply lime over top with a shovel lightly at first till you get proper mixture as not to overload pump. You should only have to move pump a couple times to shoot entire pond.

big jake
Isent back your E-Mail on the damm did I understand the problem. Also are you sure the pond needs that amount of lime.
We lime approx 240 ponds and lakes each year and you seem to be putting a large amount in if the lake is 2 1/2 acres. Imight use a little less calcium is a high plant nutrient, is your total water hardness below 25 ppm.Also alkalinity low below 30 ppm. You might disrupt your eco -system within the pond for a few weeks. You should pull a soil test in several spots and test. In short if you overlime you might lock up your availability of nutrients held in the pond mud. I would not suggest any fertilizer for a few weeks give the lime at least 4 weeks to work if your inflow is moderate. Also do not want to raise ph to quickly depends on what size ag lime you use.
Forget the liquid lime tried it in 6 different waters not happy with end result
Scott
Catskill Pond

Big-Jake,
I make money spreading lime with a barge. However if you can back the spreader truck up in several spots you will be just fine. Problem is most folks can not do this. Also you are right on with the 10 tons. Scott is one of those lucky "yankees" that don't have to deal with the crappy soils we have in GA. Scott it is pretty common here to lime with 4 tons/acre. I have put 10 tons in a 1 acre pond before and only brought the alkalinity to 28 4 months later. Also Jake I think you no this but do not fertilize until next March/April when temps rise above 60.

ALso you need to make sure the spreader truck dumps the lime off his power takeoff not the drive shaft. This way he can back right up to the pond shore and go to town. It will hit the water and spread quite well.

Greg I can back the spreader truck up several places around my lake. Are you telling me that this would be effective versus spreding over the entire pond bottom from a boat.I dont want to waste money but if this will work I am all for it. Should I focus mainly on the lower shallower end or spread from the dam as well.

Thanks, Jake

Jake,

Yes I'm telling you it will workout fine. I'm not saying it is ideal, but if it can be done this way and save time and money that is what I would do. Just put it in as many places as possible. Concentrate more toward the upper end and a little less toward the outflow. If your alkalinity is not above 20 ppm in March I will be VERY surprised. Get it done before we get some more rain.

Greg
My apologies I thought we had severe soil actually you have helped me we limed a pond 3 weeks ago 2 acres pumped 20 yds and have raised from 12 ppm to 19 ppm . The pond we dug up the road took only 5 yds for 5 acres, went from 28 ppm to 90 ppm in a week time. I guess I'll shoot another 15 yds in and wait.
Thank you for the comment
Scott Trava
Yankees, you mean the baseball team!

Scott,
Why do you lime a pond that already has 28 ppm alkalinity? Here if we get above 20 ppm it is good until it falls below that thershold?
thanks, Greg

Greg
Most ponds and lakes are surronded with heavy woods and inflows that run through hemlock forest and oak. Plus heavy snows and ice that store and absorb tanin in great amounts,and drain into ponds. We shoot for at least 60 ppm. Up here at anything at 20ppm or lower fish do not spawn it is a proven fact. Most inflows if possible get a lining of 3/4" limestone a run approx 50ft long and in tiers.

Question--have 2.5 acre pond in east texas near canton. tons of sweet gum & oak leaves-have had lime truck back to one spot but to many trees todo other areas. edge spreading as ya'll have mentioned is hard work---would spreading lime on the ground an letting the rain seep it into the pond do any good ? --- Harvey DuPriest

Harvey I think the lime would find its way into the pond , but will look like it snowed for several months and I'm sure your losing some of its effectiveness that way. Try to get it to spread in the pond in the area your dumping. Try the pump technique Scott described, it sounds like a good idea.

Harvey
Creg's advise is sound . The more lime you get in the pond the faster the results. If you can get some piles around the pond then you can circulate it with a pump, or add it to the suction bell reduce the outflow by 50% and shoot it over the pond .Once you get a good flow going you can push the lime cloud approx. 150 ft.and farther depending on pump and operator. Feed lime slow with a shovel or have someone in the water guiding the suction into a pile of lime that has been placed in the water.
Good Luck
Scott

Wow - the pump idea sounds great . I have access to a pump also Thanks Harvey

Never thought about the pump idea before, I think we are about to give this a shot. Have several lakes that need it where we live, it just might work and sounds much easier than the drag it out to the middle and shovel or pump it out deal.

i want to increase ph and alkalinity in 1 acre pond what kind of lime do i use, the white lime or the granular grey lime from farm store? I have an aerator i made that works off pto of tractor will use this to push lime out into pond.

Ag lime not hydrated lime (white powder in a bag - no).

If using the agricultural lime (I'm assuming grey) it isn't as strong as the white lime (I'm assuming it's hydrated lime). I'd keep testing the pH of the pond and use the cheapest lime.

You can kill the fish in the pond if too much hydrated lime is added. Much harder to do when using agricultural lime.

The ultimate lime is very cheep like $5 per tone called kiln dust. If you live near a cement plant they just might give you some. It is a waste product when making cement and pulled off part way up the stack to make cement stronger. High amounts of potassium and calcium will make cement softer.

This product is so fine it will desolve so fast in water because at one point it was a vapor. You will need 1000X less of this product then any other product to change your PH. Do not get this product on you or in your eyes. It is very hydrophobic and will suck the moisture out of anything it touches.

I have use this on farm land and it is very very effective for the weight. If you have a cement plant near by drop in and ask if you can get two feed bags of kiln dust. They may not even ask for any money because it is a waste product.

Cheers Don.

Ag lime - the grey stuff in bulk is what you need if possible. Not the white powdered stuff - hydrated lime which can be used only in the proper manner for short term effect.

I have a situation is which my 22 acre pond needs some lime. We were going to do the deal of adding lime via dumping it on a flat side and loading onto a lime barge where it could spray pumped around the pond. However due to a dispute among property owners we are not going to be able to use the prime spot and they're really are no others. To make a long story short, this dispute will not end any time soon.

What I have decided as Lake President is to add the lime via bags from a 1.7 ton pallet and do 6 pallets per year all at the same time. If we put the lime around the lake and empty it in from the side, will it do an okay job? We also plan to load a good bit onto some pontoon boats to cover the deeper channel of the lake. Again is this an ok idea?

I really don't have any other options as house completely cover the lake front with steep backyards and very little backyard access.

Yes that will work. Not perfect but still good.

How long will it take the lime to break up and get into the soil? The reason I ask is that I would like to do it now but ahead of a lake lowering that occurs in January. Would I be wasting money to do it now?

Ag lime will start to change the water upon entry. Some will uptake into the water and some will settle to the bottom and start working there as well. If you put ag lime in and drain the water you will loose a fair amount of the lime which was immediately absorbed by the water. Better to draw down first then add lime. My WAG is , depending on current water chemistry , you will lose 20% of the lime.

I could tell you a story about 3 guys that just shoveled 22 tons of lime and "washed" it down the hill through a poly tote and 2" PVC to the water some 30+ feet in elevation and 220' total distance.

Thanks to Scott (esshup) fro Hoosier Pond Pros for the idea.

A mini skid loader and a 1" screen to keep out the random stones would have been nice.

John, what was that about NOT using roll flat discharge hose???

Try spreading lime by shovel from a small boat - it is a chore.

Discharge hose will function somewhat, but wants to flatten. There was not enough discharge hose on hand to run both the supply and the discharge so initially small pumps were used for supply. It might have worked with discharge hose but was not tried. My concern with the discharge hose is also "bellys" that could hold material. Bell ended PVC pinned together with screws for easy removal is better.

With proper baffling to direct the material to center, and proper water volume a constant feed is possible. A bent tube "jet" pointed at the valve and fed by garden hose also helps. The bulk of the material was delivered in one day.

Problems encountered: Stones (granite) mixed in probably from residual in the dump truck OR scrapings from the yard can plug the valve. Something I did not expect was that seal of the pipes is critical as well. At one point we lost outflow. We though it was a pipe blockage so we split some pipes. Later found it was gravel in the valve area. When we started again the flow was poor and could not figure out why. Next day started up again and after thinking about it I realized that one of the joints was not pushed in tight and it was sucking air. I gave it a quick tape job and it was off to the races again. I'd guess a solid 2 ton per hr delivery rate which could be sped up with faster loading and maybe more pump speed.

The key we found was to match inflow to outflow and keep the drain making sucking sounds.

I'm glad that it worked out. I'd hate to think how long it would have taken to carry that amount of lime down the hill to a boat for distribution.

Well it's mostly in a "sand bar" form now. It did plume out a little, but it's going to take time to dissolve.

Now I just wait for the water sample from before. I did err in that I started my test delivery process before I sampled, but hopefully things had settled and not enough was washed in or dissolved to taint my sample.