Lime sulfur
Encyclopedia
In horticulture
, lime sulfur (British spelling
lime sulphur) is a mixture of calcium
polysulfide
s formed by reacting calcium hydroxide
with sulfur
, used in pest control
. It can be prepared by boiling calcium hydroxide and sulfur together with a small amount of surfactant
. It is normally used as an aqueous solution, which is reddish-yellow in colour and has a distinctive offensive odour.
One recipe for the concentrate is 80 lb. sulfur, 36 lb. pure quicklime, and 50 gallons of water. 2.25:1 is the ratio (by weight) for compounding sulfur and quicklime; this makes the highest proportion of pentasulfide. If hydrated lime is used, an increase by 1/3 or more (to 48 lb. or more) might be used with the 80 lb. of sulfur. If the quicklime is 85%, 90%, or 95% pure, use 38 lb, 40 lb, or 42 lb; if impure hydrated lime is used, similarly increase its quantity. Avoid using lime that is less than 90% pure. Rinse magnesium oxide from the lime and do not keep it in the water; it is a catalyst for hydrogen sulfide gas; sulfur in that form leaves the solution by evaporation, diluting it. Boil for an hour, stirring and adding small amounts of hot water to compensate for evaporation.
trees to control fungi, bacteria
and insect
s living or dormant on the surface of the bark
. Lime sulfur burns leaves so it is not as useful for evergreen
plants.
Bonsai
enthusiasts use undiluted lime sulfur to bleach, sterilise, and preserve deadwood on bonsai trees to give an aged look. Rather than spraying the entire tree, as with the pesticidal usage, lime sulfur is painted directly onto the exposed deadwood, and is often colored with a small amount of dark paint to make it look more natural. Without paint pigments, the lime-sulfur solution bleaches wood to a bone-white color that takes time to weather and become natural-looking. Because the lime sulfur does not contact the leaves or needles, this technique can be used on evergreen trees as well as other types of trees.
Diluted solutions of lime sulfur (between 1:16 and 1:32) are also used as a dip for pets to help control ringworm (fungus), mange
and other dermatoses
and parasites
. (Note that undiluted lime sulfur is corrosive to the skin and will cause serious injury.)
s (including stomach acid
) to produce highly toxic hydrogen sulfide
(rotten egg gas) and indeed usually has a distinct "rotten egg" odour to it. Lime sulfur is not extremely flammable but combustion produces highly irritating sulfur dioxide
gas.
Safety goggles
and glove
s should be worn while handling lime sulfur. Lime sulfur solutions are strongly alkali
ne (typical commercial concentrates have a pH
over 11.5), and so it is corrosive to living things and can cause blindness
if splashed in the eyes.
to control grape vine powdery mildew
Uncinula necator, which had been introduced from the USA in 1845 and reduced wine
production by 80%. In 1886 it was first used in California
to control San Jose scale
. Commencing around 1904, commercial suppliers began to manufacturer lime sulfur; prior to that time, gardeners were expected to manufacture their own. By the 1920s essentially all commercial orchard
s in western countries were protected by regular spraying with lime sulfur. However by the 1940s, lime sulfur began to be replaced by synthetic organic fungicide
s which risked less damage to the crop's foliage.
Horticulture
Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...
, lime sulfur (British spelling
British English
British English, or English , is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere...
lime sulphur) is a mixture of calcium
Calcium
Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft gray alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth-most-abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust...
polysulfide
Polysulfide
Polysulfides are a class of chemical compounds containing chains of sulfur atoms. There are two main classes of polysulfides: anions and organic polysulfides. Anions have the general formula Sn2−. These anions are the conjugate bases of the hydrogen polysulfides H2nSn...
s formed by reacting calcium hydroxide
Calcium hydroxide
Calcium hydroxide, traditionally called slaked lime, is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula Ca2. It is a colourless crystal or white powder and is obtained when calcium oxide is mixed, or "slaked" with water. It has many names including hydrated lime, builders lime, slack lime, cal, or...
with sulfur
Sulfur
Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element with atomic number 16. In the periodic table it is represented by the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow...
, used in pest control
Pest control
Pest control refers to the regulation or management of a species defined as a pest, usually because it is perceived to be detrimental to a person's health, the ecology or the economy.-History:...
. It can be prepared by boiling calcium hydroxide and sulfur together with a small amount of surfactant
Surfactant
Surfactants are compounds that lower the surface tension of a liquid, the interfacial tension between two liquids, or that between a liquid and a solid...
. It is normally used as an aqueous solution, which is reddish-yellow in colour and has a distinctive offensive odour.
One recipe for the concentrate is 80 lb. sulfur, 36 lb. pure quicklime, and 50 gallons of water. 2.25:1 is the ratio (by weight) for compounding sulfur and quicklime; this makes the highest proportion of pentasulfide. If hydrated lime is used, an increase by 1/3 or more (to 48 lb. or more) might be used with the 80 lb. of sulfur. If the quicklime is 85%, 90%, or 95% pure, use 38 lb, 40 lb, or 42 lb; if impure hydrated lime is used, similarly increase its quantity. Avoid using lime that is less than 90% pure. Rinse magnesium oxide from the lime and do not keep it in the water; it is a catalyst for hydrogen sulfide gas; sulfur in that form leaves the solution by evaporation, diluting it. Boil for an hour, stirring and adding small amounts of hot water to compensate for evaporation.
Use
Lime sulfur is sold as a spray for deciduousDeciduous
Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
trees to control fungi, bacteria
Bacteria
Bacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...
and insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s living or dormant on the surface of the bark
Bark
Bark is the outermost layers of stems and roots of woody plants. Plants with bark include trees, woody vines and shrubs. Bark refers to all the tissues outside of the vascular cambium and is a nontechnical term. It overlays the wood and consists of the inner bark and the outer bark. The inner...
. Lime sulfur burns leaves so it is not as useful for evergreen
Evergreen
In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...
plants.
Bonsai
Bonsai
is a Japanese art form using miniature trees grown in containers. Similar practices exist in other cultures, including the Chinese tradition of penjing from which the art originated, and the miniature living landscapes of Vietnamese hòn non bộ...
enthusiasts use undiluted lime sulfur to bleach, sterilise, and preserve deadwood on bonsai trees to give an aged look. Rather than spraying the entire tree, as with the pesticidal usage, lime sulfur is painted directly onto the exposed deadwood, and is often colored with a small amount of dark paint to make it look more natural. Without paint pigments, the lime-sulfur solution bleaches wood to a bone-white color that takes time to weather and become natural-looking. Because the lime sulfur does not contact the leaves or needles, this technique can be used on evergreen trees as well as other types of trees.
Diluted solutions of lime sulfur (between 1:16 and 1:32) are also used as a dip for pets to help control ringworm (fungus), mange
Mange
Mange is the common name for a class of persistent contagious skin diseases caused by parasitic mites. Since mites also infect plants, birds, and reptiles, the term "mange," suggesting poor condition of the hairy coat due to the infection, is sometimes reserved only for pathological...
and other dermatoses
Cutaneous conditions
There are many conditions of or affecting the human integumentary system—the organ system that comprises the entire surface of the body and includes skin, hair, nails, and related muscle and glands.- Diseases :...
and parasites
Parasitism
Parasitism is a type of symbiotic relationship between organisms of different species where one organism, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the other, the host. Traditionally parasite referred to organisms with lifestages that needed more than one host . These are now called macroparasites...
. (Note that undiluted lime sulfur is corrosive to the skin and will cause serious injury.)
Safety
Lime sulfur reacts with strong acidAcid
An acid is a substance which reacts with a base. Commonly, acids can be identified as tasting sour, reacting with metals such as calcium, and bases like sodium carbonate. Aqueous acids have a pH of less than 7, where an acid of lower pH is typically stronger, and turn blue litmus paper red...
s (including stomach acid
Gastric acid
Gastric acid is a digestive fluid, formed in the stomach. It has a pH of 1 to 2 and is composed of hydrochloric acid , and large quantities of potassium chloride and sodium chloride...
) to produce highly toxic hydrogen sulfide
Hydrogen sulfide
Hydrogen sulfide is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless, very poisonous, flammable gas with the characteristic foul odor of expired eggs perceptible at concentrations as low as 0.00047 parts per million...
(rotten egg gas) and indeed usually has a distinct "rotten egg" odour to it. Lime sulfur is not extremely flammable but combustion produces highly irritating sulfur dioxide
Sulfur dioxide
Sulfur dioxide is the chemical compound with the formula . It is released by volcanoes and in various industrial processes. Since coal and petroleum often contain sulfur compounds, their combustion generates sulfur dioxide unless the sulfur compounds are removed before burning the fuel...
gas.
Safety goggles
Goggles
Goggles or safety glasses are forms of protective eyewear that usually enclose or protect the area surrounding the eye in order to prevent particulates, water or chemicals from striking the eyes. They are used in chemistry laboratories and in woodworking. They are often used in snow sports as well,...
and glove
Glove
A glove is a garment covering the hand. Gloves have separate sheaths or openings for each finger and the thumb; if there is an opening but no covering sheath for each finger they are called "fingerless gloves". Fingerless gloves with one large opening rather than individual openings for each...
s should be worn while handling lime sulfur. Lime sulfur solutions are strongly alkali
Alkali
In chemistry, an alkali is a basic, ionic salt of an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal element. Some authors also define an alkali as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7. The adjective alkaline is commonly used in English as a synonym for base,...
ne (typical commercial concentrates have a pH
PH
In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Pure water is said to be neutral, with a pH close to 7.0 at . Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline...
over 11.5), and so it is corrosive to living things and can cause blindness
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
if splashed in the eyes.
History
Lime sulfur is believed to be the earliest synthetic chemical used as a pesticide, being used in the 1840s in FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
to control grape vine powdery mildew
Powdery mildew
Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that affects a wide range of plants. Powdery mildew diseases are caused by many different species of fungi in the order Erysiphales. It is one of the easier diseases to spot, as its symptoms are quite distinctive. Infected plants display white powdery spots on the...
Uncinula necator, which had been introduced from the USA in 1845 and reduced wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
production by 80%. In 1886 it was first used in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
to control San Jose scale
Scale insect
The scale insects are small insects of the order Hemiptera, generally classified as the superfamily Coccoidea. There are about 8,000 species of scale insects.-Ecology:...
. Commencing around 1904, commercial suppliers began to manufacturer lime sulfur; prior to that time, gardeners were expected to manufacture their own. By the 1920s essentially all commercial orchard
Orchard
An orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit or nut-producing trees which are grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of large gardens, where they serve an aesthetic as well as a productive...
s in western countries were protected by regular spraying with lime sulfur. However by the 1940s, lime sulfur began to be replaced by synthetic organic fungicide
Fungicide
Fungicides are chemical compounds or biological organisms used to kill or inhibit fungi or fungal spores. Fungi can cause serious damage in agriculture, resulting in critical losses of yield, quality and profit. Fungicides are used both in agriculture and to fight fungal infections in animals...
s which risked less damage to the crop's foliage.
External links
- Chronological History of the Development of Insecticides and Control Equipment from 1854 through 1954
- Background on History of Pesticide Use and Regulation in the United States, Part Two (PDFPortable Document FormatPortable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
, 54 kB). - The Value of Fungicides in U.S. Crop Production, (PDF, 1.1 MB)