Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Fertilization Ag lime for Cindy's new pond

Hey all.

I'm sure the information is here somewhere, but time is tight for me now and I have some general questions that might have quick answers.

The pond was finished a few days ago and will be about 7 acres when full and about 6-7 deep on average. The opportunity to spread lime easily will last anywhere from a few weeks or until the next big rain. I know there are tests that indicate if lime is needed and how much, but I thought maybe that some general information could streamline the decision for me.

First off, regardless of how much lime is recommended the budget will only support buying about 20 tons max.

Another consideration is that almost all agricultural land in our area is treated with ag lime. I'm guessing that this is an indicator that almost all of the soils here benefit from liming.

Most of the watershed for this pond is marginal pasture land that gets fertilized occasionally, including lime. There is also about 20 acres of cotton, peanuts and pecan orchard in the watershed. The soil in the pond site, and around here in general, is sandy with large clay deposits.

There is a few feet of water just in front of the dam and I have a very basic alkalinity test kit. If necessary I can always test that water. I would love to have the soil tested but realistically I might not get to it before the bottom gets wet.

Is it very likely that 20 tons of lime will benefit this pond in a noticeable way?

Thanks.

GW, without soil a test, a general recommended rate of l-2 tons of lime/acre for ag land would fall within your 20 ton allowance. IIRC, there is no downside (other than cost)to overapplying lime . It would seem that your acidic pond soil would benefit from a lime application..du

GW, were you not listening during my talk, Generally 4-6 tons/acre to buy you 4-5 years. However in your area there are many ponds that require any. I think either $15 to county ext office or shipping us some water and we will determine alkalinity for you for free would be in order. Good luck but 20 tons in 7 acres is not a bad start.

Greg, you must have talked about liming before I got there because I remember every word you said.

I appreciate your kind offer to test the water, but I hate to impose. I'll run a sample down to the county and just eliminate the guess work. Thanks.

I vote to throw in the 20 tons just to be sure. The ag lime can't be overdone. It's slow acting nature will make it last several years too.

Thanks all.

The county people said just bring some water from the small pool at the base of the dam. Would that area accurately represent the entire area of the pond? It's in the old creek bed.

I remembered that I have an inexpensive water test kit so I tested my 10 month old pond and Cindy's two new ones (7 acre pond and the clay pit pond). Both of the new ponds showed absolutely no hardness and had a pH of 5. My pond showed a slight trace of alkalinity and had a pH of 5.5.

I ordered the lime.

As a control (sort of) I checked our well water with the same kit. The hardness registered 85 and the pH was 8.0.

I'm going to ask if the spreader truck might be able to throw it across my 1/3 acre pond which is 50-80 feet wide in different places. I'm thinking of adding 3 tons. I'm paying for this pond's treatment and I'll add more if recommended.

The clay pit pond will be smaller than my pond when full, but will hold about the same quantity of water I believe. I'm guessing 2 tons for it.

That will probably leave 18 tons for the big pond, maybe more if I can convince Cindy to stretch her budget a little (She's okay'd 20 tons for her ponds so far).

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