Does oyster shell powder raise pH in ground soil?

[Phillybonker]

I know oyster shell powder raises pH in soil over time but does it raise the pH in actual ground soil?

I want to use oyster shell powder because of it's chitin content but I'm worried it will raise the pH too high (the ground soil is normally around 6.8 and I don't need it getting any higher).

 

[Phytoplankton]

Yes oyster shell will raise soil ph temporarily, but if it’s an acidic soil, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. CacO3 supplies Ca to the plant and as it breaks down makes other nutrients more available to the plant. If the soil is alkaline to begin with, then it’s not recommended.

 

[Phillybonker]

Yes oyster shell will raise soil ph temporarily, but if it’s an acidic soil, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. CacO3 supplies Ca to the plant and as it breaks down makes other nutrients more available to the plant. If the soil is alkaline to begin with, then it’s not recommended.

So I guess anything with Cac03 will raise the pH which rules out using crab meal or shrimp meal.

I found some mussel meal that oddly has a Ca content of 0.55% which means it can't have much CacO3 in it either, and mussel shells contain chitin, so I'll email the shop to confirm their mussel meal won't mess with the pH. Thanks for the help.

 

[Phytoplankton]

The use of CaCO3 is dependent on the soil PH, if the soil is acidic (below ph 7.0) then there's no problem using oyster shell, limestone, or even dolomite (limestone and dolomite contain both Ca and Mg). The PH effects are temporary. Remember that rainwater tends to be in the 5.6 to 5.8 ph, when that falls on CaCO3, it dissolves into solution, where microbes can break it down into usable Ca. If your tap water and soil are acidic, the PH up effects are temporary and should not cause any issues. It is a common soil amendment.

 

[Phillybonker]

The use of CaCO3 is dependent on the soil PH, if the soil is acidic (below ph 7.0) then there's no problem using oyster shell, limestone, or even dolomite (limestone and dolomite contain both Ca and Mg). The PH effects are temporary. Remember that rainwater tends to be in the 5.6 to 5.8 ph, when that falls on CaCO3, it dissolves into solution, where microbes can break it down into usable Ca. If your tap water and soil are acidic, the PH up effects are temporary and should not cause any issues. It is a common soil amendment.

I like the sounds of that. Plenty of rain where I'm at so pH shouldn't be too much of an issue. Thanks