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Fertilizer Recommendation Tables - 2007 Revision

Author: Keith Reid - Soil Fertility Specialist/OMAFRA
Creation Date: October 2007
Last Reviewed: October 2007
2007 Revision

Soil Acidity and Liming

To correct soil acidity, ground limestone should be broadcast and worked into the soil at rates determined by soil test. The accompanying table shows the soil pH values below which lime is recommended and the "target" soil pH to which soils should be limed for different crops. In Ontario most crops grow quite well at pH values higher than the target pH to which lime is recommended.

Coarse and Medium Textured Mineral soils (sands, sandy loams, loams and silt loams)
  Soil pH Below Which Lime is Recommended Target Soil pH*
All crops not listed below 6.1 6.5
Corn, soybeans, winter rye, grass hay and pasture, turf, tobacco, established tree fruits and grapes 5.6 6.0
Potatoes 5.1 5.5
Blueberry, cranberry, rhododendron, azalea No lime recommended  


Fine Textured Mineral Soils (clays and clay loams)
  Soil pH Below Which Lime is Recommended Target Soil pH*
Alfalfa, cole crops, rutabagas 6.1 6.5
All crops not listed above or below 5.6 6.0
Corn, rye, grass hay and pasture, tobacco, established tree fruits and grapes, potatoes 5.1 5.5
Blueberry, cranberry, rhododendron, azalea No lime recommended  

Organic Soils (peats and mucks)
  Soil pH Below Which Lime is Recommended Target Soil pH*
All crops not listed below 5.1 5.5
Blueberry, cranberry, rhododendron, azalea No lime recommended  

*Where a crop is grown in rotation with other crops requiring a higher pH (for example corn in rotation with wheat or alfalfa) it is recommended that the soil be limed to the higher pH.

Approved: Ontario Soil Management Research and Services Committee (June 2007)


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