Anyone hear of coating seeds with lime?

zeroma · September 14, 2012

master gardener friend was telling me about a friend of his who puts his squash seeds/watermelon, pumpkin ---viney types in a bit of lime powder and shaking them, before planting.

Right now I don't remember why he said this was beneficial, but the gardener who does this says it works.

what would the science of this be? Here in Ohio we have a lot of heavy clay soils, if that is helpful information. I'm just curious.

Cole_Robbie · September 14, 2012

It would change the ph enough to make life harder for the bad stuff. Bacteria, fungal spores, and viral matter all require specific ph ranges in which to live.

In the Caribbean, they use the other kind of lime - the green citrus fruit - as an anti-bacterial agent. It lowers, not raises, ph, but the effect is the same. I have seen Caribbean villagers use the same chopping board for raw chicken and then fresh vegetables. All they do is rinse it off and squeeze a lime over it after the chicken. No one ever seemed to get sick from it, even me.

zeroma · September 14, 2012

Thanks Cole Robbie (btw, I love your username!)

When I listened with my ears to my master gardener friend tell me this, I was assuming he meant the garden thpe of lime I added the word lime powder, thinking that is what he meant. Maybe what this guy was using was lime, as in the citrus fruit.

Now, I must talk with him to find out which lime he was talking about.

so making life harder for the bad stuff sounds good, wonder if lime juice would work for right before one plants sa tomato seed?

RayR · September 14, 2012

I've never heard of lime being used as a seed coating except in pelleted legume seeds inoculated with nitrogen fixing rhizobacteria, which are intolerant of acidic conditions.

You'll have to get the scientific explanation from your master gardener friend as too what benefit a powdered lime coating gives to Cucurbit seeds.

September 14, 2012	#1
zeroma Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2012 Location: SW Ohio Posts: 637	Anyone hear of coating seeds with lime? master gardener friend was telling me about a friend of his who puts his squash seeds/watermelon, pumpkin ---viney types in a bit of lime powder and shaking them, before planting. Right now I don't remember why he said this was beneficial, but the gardener who does this says it works. what would the science of this be? Here in Ohio we have a lot of heavy clay soils, if that is helpful information. I'm just curious.

September 14, 2012	#2
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	It would change the ph enough to make life harder for the bad stuff. Bacteria, fungal spores, and viral matter all require specific ph ranges in which to live. In the Caribbean, they use the other kind of lime - the green citrus fruit - as an anti-bacterial agent. It lowers, not raises, ph, but the effect is the same. I have seen Caribbean villagers use the same chopping board for raw chicken and then fresh vegetables. All they do is rinse it off and squeeze a lime over it after the chicken. No one ever seemed to get sick from it, even me.

September 14, 2012	#4
RayR Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Cheektowaga, NY Posts: 2,466	I've never heard of lime being used as a seed coating except in pelleted legume seeds inoculated with nitrogen fixing rhizobacteria, which are intolerant of acidic conditions. You'll have to get the scientific explanation from your master gardener friend as too what benefit a powdered lime coating gives to Cucurbit seeds.