Screened limestone
 

Does anyone use screened limestone that's for garden use as a supplement? I have a grapevine and someone told me to use it on the plant otherwise the grapes would be bitter so I bought some and as far as I can make out, there are no other ingredients in it. I remember Kirkie getting limestone chips at one time but I've never seen them on sale around here. I have cuttlefish bone but the torts have been biting bits off the concrete paving slabs which of course contains lime. Link https://www.lovethegarden.com/produc...-soil-improver
According to the information sheets it's just limestone. They are little round balls

I have a grape vine as the tortoises can eat young leaves of it. I don't use any supplement for them and the grapes are fine to eat:0) not that they are big enough to really enjoy.
If you think in the wild nobody screens calcium there.

https://www.stonefirms.com/products/

You could try these people Alan i have used them in the past for cut stone for work and they are very helpful I'm sure if you asked the would send you a sample.

Our soil here is very acidic which is why the grapes (and some other fruits) need lime in the soil apparently, to make it more alkaline. This is what the local gardeners are telling me anyway, I've not got much idea about gardening at all :)

It was only after buying this product for the grape plant that I thought about letting the torts at it and I was really just wanting to be sure the stuff didn't contain anything else at all other than natural lime

Cheers Gordon

Is your grapevine indoors or out Sandy? I have just brought one from A!do £5!

I got a Russian vine/ mile a minute but its a no feed on tortoise table (despite several friends feeding it!)

I have a Russian Vine and have always fed in sparingly and continue to do so as mine love it!

Going back to calcium I always buy a large tub of limestone flour from agricultural suppliers that is designed for horses.

Sorry just got back from roasting France.
My grape is outside and flourishes:0)
And like Mary I always use tubbed limestone flour from a horse retailer:0) Cheap and cheerful.

I bought a large tub of limestone flour once from Harbro and the torts just ignored it :)

I sprinkle it on their favourite food and they have no choice but to eat it especially when the weather is like this and they are very very hungry!

Same here Mary:0)

But how would you know if you are giving them too much?
B&Q have 20mm limestone but I don't think that's big enough as my torts could swallow a whole one maybe. I will have to email Scott's or whoever is the manufacturer of the product in my original post. I can't have them eating my paving slabs :)

I always understood that you can't give them too much calcium as any excess they just excrete it. Haven't you got any farming outlets near you that sell it by the kg my current pot is 3kg and I just put it on the food and they eat everything? I have bought chalk pieces for them before and they have just ignored them.

Same here Mary they can not over dose on calcium:0)

I've never been convinced about the not overdosing thing. Do they all excrete the excess or just some of them or even none of them or do some of them do it while it causes stones in others? Do females require more than males? How would anyone know that as I doubt there has been any scientific tests done given the fact very little is still known about torts. Lots of information out there regarding all aspects of keeping them that nobody knows whether it's right or wrong. You have for example the tortoise table, a very informative site but they will tell you do not feed this or that yet torts in the wild are known to eat plants that are highly toxic to everything but them. I would rather that they decided themselves whether they need extra calcium rather than me give them it on their food (which isn't practical anyway since they are eating growing plants), after all nobody scoops it on for them in the wild and what they get from plants in the wild is only minute traces. They don't really need limestone chips as they have their cuttlefish bones which they chomp into at times when they want, maybe the paving eating is just to keep their beaks in trim who knows

I certainly give more calcium to my females as producing eggs takes a great deal out of their systems and I give calcium to my tortoises as although they graze a lot my soil is very light and nothing like they would experience in the wild. I don't believe it's additional calcium that produces bladder stones but dehydration and uric acid and have never had a problem with additional calcium. At the end of the day it is what suits each individual in the way they decide to keep their tortoises. My tortoises get very limited supplies of Russian Vine which according to the TTT is a no feed but they have eaten it for a very long time with no ill effects and as you say tortoises don't stop and think I shouldn't eat that. Some people sprinkle calcium on the ground where their weeds grow so that would be a good idea maybe.

The product I'm on about in my first post is exactly for that, to add lime/calcium to the soil but limestone flour should do exactly the same although it might go into clumps maybe. The stuff I have is about the size of grains of barley but round. You are right, people get to know what suits their own needs and different setups and even living in different parts of the country will mean there are varying degrees of requirements

Alan - your grapes may be bitter whatever you do. It depends on the type.

Not that I know that much, just that my husband bought one from a vineyard that we discovered can only be used for making red wine - so the birds are now well fed in late summer!

aye, better just buying them out the shop I think :)