burnt limestone

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  • May 21, 2010 at 2:21 pm #41673
    matt wny
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    I recently read an article in farm show magazine about creating lime by building a pile layered with coal and blue limestone rocks with a wooden chimney in the center of it.you burn the pile the heat breaks down the rocks and adds minerals from the coal ash.Then you spread it on the field like regular lime.This amish guy from ohio claims that it has a lot better and longer lasting effect on the soil than regular ag lime. I have never heard of anything like this before.Was just wondering if anbody on this site has ever tried this or knew of this practice.

    May 25, 2010 at 7:48 pm #60269
    OldKat
    Participant

    @matt wny 18419 wrote:

    I recently read an article in farm show magazine about creating lime by building a pile layered with coal and blue limestone rocks with a wooden chimney in the center of it.you burn the pile the heat breaks down the rocks and adds minerals from the coal ash.Then you spread it on the field like regular lime.This amish guy from ohio claims that it has a lot better and longer lasting effect on the soil than regular ag lime. I have never heard of anything like this before.Was just wondering if anbody on this site has ever tried this or knew of this practice.

    I have heard of it, but have never tried it. I do know of a guy in our county that bought crushed limestone rock and incorporated it into the soil where he was planting lavendar shrubs (bushes?) with the idea that it would break down slowly and keep the soil pH up over a longer period of time than ag lime would. Haven’t heard if he is checking the soil pH on an ongoing basis though. Interesting concept either way.

    May 26, 2010 at 2:50 am #60270
    dlskidmore
    Participant

    Limestone aka Calcite, and Aragonite are CaCO3, Lime is CaO, both provide Calcium and Oxygen, and are alkaline. Shells and eggshells are also sources of CaCO3 and might be interchangeable in that chemical reaction, but are probably not available to most folks in large enough quantities. Aragonite is very plentiful around the Caribbean, and is frequently mined for the aquarium trade.

    Lime will turn back into calcite over time if the calcium is not taken up by the plants.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium_oxide

    “Calcium oxide is usually made by the thermal decomposition of materials such as limestone, that contain calcium carbonate (CaCO3; mineral calcite) in a lime kiln. This is accomplished by heating the material to above 825 °C,[1] a process called calcination or lime-burning, to liberate a molecule of carbon dioxide (CO2); leaving quicklime. “

    I’d imagine the leftover residue would be higher in carbon than commercial lime, which can also be good for the vegetation. It would also not have had as much time to react with CO2 as stuff that’s been sitting in a warehouse or store.

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