The state of São Paulo has the largest citriculture of the world, managements are of extreme importance and seek to increase and improve the production. Because of that, an experiment with application of five limestone rates was installed in EECB (Bebedouro, SP, Brazil), in a Hapluxtox (Red Latossol), in July/99. The effects of the limestone, after its application were evaluated through soil testing, in the layers 0-10, 10-20, 20-40 and 40-60 cm, at the 6, 12, 18, 24, 30 and 36 months. Linear models demonstrated that the effects of surface liming in soil could reach up 20-40cm. It is known that soil base saturation is a great property of liming action, although it is necessary to use more soil parameters to evaluate its effects. In soils with base saturation >50% the limestone application can be reduce. The maximum reaction of limestone happened between the 12 and 18 months after its application, but in areas with perennial cultures the relative studies to the effects of the liming should be longer.
soil acidity; surface liming; Citrus sinensis; base saturation
