October 21, 2020
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A preliminary laboratory investigation was carried out to determine the rate of application of some liming materials to correct acidity of soils for horticultural crops production in Nigeria. Four liming materials were used namely woo ash, calcium carbide waste, flue dust and calcium hydroxide and four rates of application: 0.05g,0.1g,0.05g and 0.2g were applied to 100g soils and mixed properly at Umudike,Nigeria. The soil samples were moistened and incubated for 14 days after which they were air dried for 2 days. Soil analysis was carried out to determined the soil physical and chemical properties. Results obtained showed that the soil was acidic with PH of 4.8 . at application rates of 0.05g and 0.2g wood ash had the highest value of 5.57 and 5.95 among treatments. At 0,1g and 0.15g, cacium hydroxide and carbide waste had the highest PH values of 6.01 and 5.98 respectively. Soil PH of 5.5 is ideal for crop growth and use of calcium hydroxide ,flue dust, carbide waste and wood ash raised soil PH to 5.5 at the folling rates 0.05g, 0.1g, 0.15g and 0.2g respectively. Application of these liming materials above these rates may not be economical and can be unfavourable for crop growth