How long does it take lime to work?

How long does it usually take dolo. lime to work in a top dressing situation? Is the coarse stuff ok to use or do I need to grind it? Thanks in advance.
7 gal pot and your basic no nute soilless mix, if that matters.

I haven't had to use it, my soil pH is fine but my guess would be grind it up to a fine powder and mix it with water.
Apply it once in the topsoil the when you water spread the water around to wash it down.

The more you water the faster the soil pH will rise and get the benefits of added cal and mag.

It works fast as far as PH balance goes.

Takes a little time to gain full potential of it's feeding capabilities.

As a top dress? Give it a week at least. LOL It's ground up ROCK sitting on the top of the soil it needs to be in contact with. It doesn't dissolve like Epsom salts and get right to the roots, but will work its way down with regular watering.

If by 'coarse stuff', you mean the granulated/pelletized, that is actually powdered lime in a dissolving binder that makes it easier to work with. Check it for yourself. Put about a tbl in a glass of water. In a bit, you will have brown water from the dissolved binder and powdered/ground lime on the bottom of the glass.

If this is what happens, there is no need to grind it up. Just sprinkle it on the surface and water as normal.

*I* use 2tbl/gallon of mix, or 1cup/cf of mix.

Wet

It is the pelletized stuff, but it's in chunks...they're (average) about 1/2 the size of a dime. The guy at the garden shop said they were out of 'fast acting' lime. I guess that's just smaller pellets, maybe? Thanks everyone.

Do you have a blender you don't admire so much?

Dankster4Life said:

Do you have a blender you don't admire so much?

Click to expand...

lol..I actually do have an old coffee grinder. Not a bad idea.

Why ?are you trying to adjust the ph mid season? Use ph up and ph down, its too late for lime at any grade , it takes 6-8 weeks to break down and become active, by then your plant could be dead. Use lime when you prepare your holes in winter for a ph buffer.