I've been able to purchase pelleted dolomite lime called Super Sweet in white bags in the Seattle area at both Home Depot & McLendon's. A little goes a long way as it's double strength & light gray in color so easy to over apply.

Pelleted (prilled) lime isn't what I want. That is just lime flour that has been molded into small pellets for controlled delivery.

I want dolomite in very small chunks, like parakeet grit.

We get rain here about 8-9 months a year, and it flushes lime flour through the soil almost like flushing it down a toilet.

Soil guru William Albrecht suggested spreading a combo of fine and coarse lime. The fine stuff would be usable soon, the coarse stuff would hang around a while.

It's the hanging around part that I'm looking for.

Grower Central contacted me today, and they don't ship over the Canadian boundary.

Sue

If you have a local co-op they have it. Next try a farmer's supply (TSC) or seed store.

belgianpup,

I know this is an older thread, but I thought I might offer some (hopefully) useful information.

If my memory serves me right, dolomite lime that will pass through 100 grit will breakdown over the course of 3 years - roughly 1/3 each year. The grade you're talking about will take a whole lot longer - e.g. 10 years.

The physical breakdown of lime is only part of your issue. The other, more important factor is your soil's ability to "adsorb" nutrients (calcium and magnesium, in the case of dolomite lime). Adsorb means to hold by means of opposing polarization--like a magnet holds. If your soil has a low cation exchange capacity or CEC (this is the measurement of "how much" your soil can hold), then you're fighting an uphill battle. As soon as the lime is physically broken down it will leach from your soil.

If you haven't had your soil tested recently, I would suggest getting a base saturation soil test--this is the test that Albrecht advocated for. It will tell you the CEC of your soil and the relative base saturation percentages of the primary nutrients (e.g. calcium, magnesium, potassium, etc.) Then, if you find that your CEC is very low, I would recommend soil-building to solve your problem. I use Logan Labs in Ohio for my testing, but there are many others who will perform the test as well. Just inquire prior to testing and make sure they provide the CEC and base saturations.

Good luck!

+1 on the above advice.

Having said that, I thought you could contact a quarry, but I don't know what kind of rock the quarries have up there, maybe it's granite and other hard rocks and not limestone? It's all limestone around here and I can get any size I want.

Also a real nursery (rather than a big box store) might have some advice or sources. That is if you still need it after reading fortyone's advice.

Google Concrete, WA.
There is a limestone quarry there that has ceased operation in the 60's. I'm sure some limestone is still available.
Mike

But you'd want to know what kind of rock they're quarrying, it may not be dolomite.

As I understand it, magnesium in excess makes the soil tighter and calcium makes it looser. I believe Albrecht said that the ratio should be 5 or 6 to 1 ...ca to mg.

You may be able to find a calcitic limestone (not dolomite) in sand size by looking at local water-treatment unit suppliers. A calcitic sand medium is a cheap easy way to raise pH of acidic well water to reduce the problem of corroding copper pipes. The filters can be pool-filter size so the filter media is probably sold in 40-50 pound bags. It will not give you any magnesium though. They use calcite because dolomite is much slower to react.

Good point, wayne_5. The correct ratio is roughly 7:1 - calcium:magnesium by weight. This is generally how it's reported on the Reams test. On the base saturation test, as prescribed by Albrecht, it would be roughly 65% calcium and 15% magnesium.

My guess is it isn't available because it would work TOO good. then they couldn't sell you more every few years... maybe oyster shell?

What? How can they sell you more in a few years if they didn't sell you the first batch? #-\

What? How can they sell you more in a few years if they didn't sell you the first batch? #-\

they couldn't sell you more of the fine stuff. :) or any stuff if it worked longer.

It's not that it doesn't work longer, it just takes longer to break down. For example, say you need 50 lb. of calcium per year to satisfy the requirements of your crop. Finely ground lime may take 3 years to fully breakdown (1/3 each year) so you'd need to apply 150 lb. in year #1 to provide the 50 lbs./year required over 3 years. If a coarse grade required 5 years to break down (1/5 each year) you'd have to apply 250 lbs.

These numbers are completely arbitrary, but you get the idea.