| Hay Wilson in TX - 9/9/2009 13:11 We usually associate a high pH with a high calcium level though they are coincidental rather than causative. Lime is the material that will change the pH, more to the point the carbonate half of the calcium carbonate aka lime. Magnesium carbonate, ammonium carbonate, sodium carbonate and potassium carbonate will all raise the pH, but they are not cost effective. Does that check? Correlation Does Not Prove Causation We can substitute coincidental for correlation and still have valid observation. Agriculture is loaded with coincidences that are believed to be a cause. In fact our text books and learned papers contribute to the idea that cause and effect is the same as coincidence and effect is a solid scientific observation. Thanks, Hay Wilson, for spelling it out in more detail. There are many forms of calcium that won't raise the pH when applied to an acidic soil. Calcium sulfate (gypsum), for instance. (And it's not because of the sulfate being acidifying -- it isn't, since it's already in the sulfate form, which is an anion, or base.) |
A soil sample result. Copy attached.
