Can I use cement as lime for brassicas

[veggiechicken]

Thanks for the replies.
I will get a lime test kit but am fairly sure it needs lime.
Decided to dump sack of cement in no mans land between my greenhouse and fence.
As for status of cement. A long while ago I used and old bag of cement for a small wall.
It never set and I had to redo everything.
Cement needs to be fresh.

Jimmy

Why don't you remove it from the site instead of dumping for someone else to clear up?

[Bigmallly]

Manure or chicken pellets are alkaline so may help.

[Bohobumble]

Where is best place to get lime (cheapo) ?

Try Wilko, QD or Poundland for garden lime - I have seen it there cheap enough.

I tried at the DIY stores with garden sections, none there, but they had it at all 3 stores mentioned before

[Bigmallly]

Wilko Get Gardening Garden Lime 3kg at wilko.com

[Jimmy]

Why don't you remove it from the site instead of dumping for someone else to clear up?

It's not a lotty it's my back garden.
The area is about 2 foot wide and never used and in the shade.
Jimmy

[Mikey]

The problem with cements is you don't know the exact composition of it, it doesn't have to contain an exact amount of lime and in some case lime might only be a small component of the mixture. Have a look on the bag what its composition is.

I wouldn't add it to my plot or garden, I would take it down the tip and dispose of it. Cement has a shelf life of a couple of months so after 2 years it would be as good as useless. Cement needs to be a fine powder and bone dry, when moisture gets in it binds the particles together making it hard. As the strength of the concrete is based on the dispersal of the powder evenly across the bonding agent (sand, stone chips) the finer the particles the better the dispersal and the stronger the concrete..

If you leave it our on your plot the bag will deteriorate, water will get into the bag and you will be left with a solid mass to dispose of. Either way you'll need to get rid of it, I'd do it before the bag splits personally.

[Jimmy]

Currently it's in a plastic compost bag inside my shed.
Jimmy

[Mikey]

If its hard, dispose of it and use the plastic compost bag for something more useful like potatoes.

[Potstubsdustbins]

OK I have had a dig around and come up with some old H & S notes produced by ICI. Given that cement can cause caustic burns and has even been associated with lung cancer they where quite keen on H & S even back then.

The main constituent is as I thought a lime stone and clay slurry, before firing in the rotary kiln some of the other additives are Silica, Chromium, Aluminium, Iron and Magnesium. Only small quantities as some only act as fluxes to help form the clinker but they are there and they stay in the finished product.