When to use Lime

[Queenbee]

Does it matter at what stage you put lime down? i.e. should you do it before cultivating/seeding etc or after once the crops start to grow?

[Choochit]

I would apply it after a harvest before I ran a cultivator or seeder with cultivating capabilities over it. Seemed to work for me, I checked the map and said it didn't need lime.

[Queenbee]

Yeah thats what i am doing too, but wasn't sure if that was correct. It does make sense to get it in the soil before seeding though. Thanks

[DizzieDawgie]

Yep, I just use it after harvest and before cultivation.

[Choochit]

I have done it in stage 1 growing when you drive over crops without destroying them and it works then too, just makes a mess of the crops and looks weird imo.

[Robert_Leppefisk]

You simply apply it when the map states that it needs it.
Obviously you want to do it before your new crops are finished growing on the soil that has the wrong PH value.
That's what Lime does, it alters the PH of the soil. In the real world atleast.
I'm kinda dissapointed that they added the need for lime, without giving you a more advanced system for it.
It doesn't say what crops need lime, and IRL not all crops do.

[Willow Rivers]

My rotations is cultivate/plow, lime, fertilize, sow, fertilize.

You only have to do lime every 3 harvests.

[DizzieDawgie]

Does "fertilize, sow, fertilize" count as 100% fertilization? I was under the impression I needed to wait until the 2nd growth stage to fertillize the 2nd time.

[Kris312]

Originally posted by DizzieDawgie:

Does "fertilize, sow, fertilize" count as 100% fertilization? I was under the impression I needed to wait until the 2nd growth stage to fertillize the 2nd time.

It counts. I fertilize, plow/cultivate, fertilize, and then sow and I still get 100% even though it's all one growth stage.

[DizzieDawgie]

Thanks for the confirmation, Kris312. That's great news.

“We often miss opportunity because it's dressed in overalls and looks like work”
~Thomas A. Edison

[troylang]

So if you set settings for no lime needed. will you still get same yeild without it?

[SkyDriver]

I wasn't aware you could do that early on, but as of now you cannot Fertilize then immediately fertilize again with a sower that has the capability. You are now required to wait 1 field stage to fertilize a second time, since the sower is trying to fertilize simultaneously on a freshly fertilized field. All it's doing is doubling the amount of fertilizer being used on 1 stage.

You can spread lime, then fertilizer directly over the lime, then cultivate both into the soil, but two coats of fertilizer (even with a sower) only acts as 1 coat.

As far as turning settings on/off that affect crop quality, OFF essentially means you're playing the game without the negative effects on harvest quality, so if periodic plowing and/or Lime is turned off, the field state will be normal (default). It's the not plowing and not liming that give a deduction in normal quality if not done after every 3 harvests. Plowing and liming do not give bonuses, they just allow you to keep the default without penalty. Weeds on the other hand are a true penalty, so if they're turned off, no penalty.

When I start a new game/map, I usually play with plow lime requirements off, but turn them on when I get a little more established and can afford a lime spreader and have at least 3 fields so I can still work at least 2 while 1 is being plowed. Since new games almost always require plowing before anything can be done on any fields you buy, and I hate spending an hour waiting on my first field to be ready.

[doomsday649]

You can fert then fert again with a fertiliser capable sower directly after - has always shown up as fully fertilised on the map to me =)

[MDManiac]

I tend to SOW first (with a direct drill), then LIME, then FERTILIZE for the 2nd stage. The game requires a state change between fertilizations and lime counts as such a state change.

[Usedfireball]

What I have done for a field that needed lime was to fertilize first, lime, then fertilize again, either before seeding (planter/seeder that did not carry fertilizer) or while seeding. Because lime changes the state of the field it would make both fertilizer apps count.

In RL lime is usually applied prior to planting, and that is what I have always done in game. The game does allow it to be applied after seeding up until the final growth stage, however RL that wouldn't work. Here it is fall applied and worked in during the fall tillage pass, which gives the lime time to work on the PH of the soil.

[carnie2]

mdmaniac necroed a 3 years old post :-D

But... you guys could get giants precision farming from modhub. This is what comes modern farm life the closest. Since you need to know which crop you will plant before you can apply the correct amount of lime and fertilizer (and which kind of fertilizer).
When using precision farming, you can apply the correct amount of lime and fertilizer, after planting, and save money as well.

BTW, in fs22 precision farming will be even easier to use, with the ability to "buy" a field map of the ground conditions, instead of having to drive around the field probing it yourself. According to info from john Deere interview on fs22 youtube channel.