Kitchen Garden Forum

I was reading in May issue about preparing the ground for beans and Joe Maiden says that he adds manure and then a dressing of lime. I had heard that you should never use manure and lime together as one is acid and the other alkaline. Or it is just prepared fertilizer that shouldnt be mixed with lime. I am easliy confused so can anyone clear this up?

HI cherrystone.. As far as I'm aware, it IS ok to add both to the soil, but there needs to be a reasonable amount of time between their addition. Something like, manure in the autumn and lime in the spring. Hopefully, someone will say if this advice isn't correct.
Cheers...freddy.

Thanks Freddy, I thought that was OK aswell but in the article it seems to say that it can be done at the same time.

Hi Cherrystone,
You are correct in what you say. Manuring and liming should never be done at the same time!
Having said that they can both be used to produce Beans but at different times of the year. The Bean Bed should be prepared in the autumn prior to growing using the manure and when the beans are planted and are on their way up the pole a light dressing of lime is needed. This means that the applications are about 6 months apart but never at the same time.
But whatever you see a supposed gardening expert do does not make it correct.
JB.

Would that include calcified seaweed?

Hi Cherrystone,
Yes it would. Calcified Seaweed is what I apply as a surface dressing to my Bean row. This ultimately gets dug in at the end of the season when it has tempered sufficiently and the micro nutrients accompanying Calcified Seaweed are very beneficial.
I have had a Bean Bed on the same plot for the last 15 years or so with absolutely no ill effects. By taking Beans out of the rotation system I find that the rotation is much easier. Beans have the tendency to restrict light for a very large part of the season and if sighted where they do not restrict light and kept there so much the better.
JB.