The standard answer is going to be "what happened when you had your soil tested"? It's a pretty good answer.

However, there's one conceptual mistake I see here. You have mulched with pine straw and that's a lot different than you amending or digging the stuff in. Mulch is really only an insulating cover. It's not part of the soil. Where it just barely touches the damp soil it is trying to become compost and it's trying to do it incredibly slowly. For the most part it's having no effect on your soil acidity.

Id suggest waiting. If not for the results of a (formal or informal) soil test, then for the plants to give you some indication of what you need. Just adding lime for the guess of it is often not a good idea.

Don't throw the lime away, though.

I agree with Cold Weather.

Secondly, is it Dolomitic Garden Lime?

Josh

Ah ok. See this is why I ask yall on this forum before doing something I'm unsure of lol.

Soil has never been tested.

Dunno what kind of lime it is. He said the country club buys it all the time for the golf course.

I agree; You have to have an idea as what your soil pH is. Anything around 6.4 or more, the pine straw is not going to put a dent on its. PS, would only acidify when it is fully composted , and probably it wont happen this season. I have used A LOT of PS when I was back in GA and my soil pH was hardly 6.3.

But to remedy the effects you can add quick lime. But, from what I know, changing pH one way or the other will take a while, maybe longer than a season.
JMO.

Ok thanks a million yall. Looks like I got free lime for my grass lol

I lime every 2 years. Unless you have naturally rich in lime soil put it on. Lime will not make soil super alkaline. Test your PH for sure but dont have a fear of lime. Quick Lime on the other hand changes things to rapidly and has different application I would not use it around growing plants

.I just mulched my garden with pine straw. About 6in deep. I've read that pine straw adds way to much acid to the soil and I'll need lime to counteract it. Seeing as I have a friend who works at a local fertilizer plant I told him I'd need a little. Well I was given three 5 gallon buckets of lime. I've never used it before and hoping someone can tell me how much to use.
The Ca and Mg CO3 serves as a pH buffer... if in ample quantities keeps pH above a certain level. And level is not much above pH 7.0. On pine straw, I wish I had access to a lot more free stuff. Best weed control mulch for garden for me. Pine straw will not lower pH very much at all. I would not hesitate to apply a 6" layer of it around peps and toms. Much better than peat moss or bark or other junk for mulching purposes.
Add ground limestone (not Ca Hydroxide) to patch if you want to... hurts nothing really. Good for sweetening sour soils. However, most soils are not very sour.
Reggie

Put it on your grass! I mean lawn!

My understanding is that peppers do best with a slightly acidic soils, pH 5.5 - 6.0.

So unless you live in a peat bog or something, I'd avoid adding lime.

I live on alkaline soils, pH 7.5 - 8.0, and I've found that I get far better results growing peppers in containers where I can make up an acidic soil.

7.5-8.0 wow . I see why you dont use lime. Do you put it in your mix? I use 2 cups in my 5-1-1 large batch. Also in my garden soil. Most of us dont have a PH like that. scgreenthuub might not be dealing with a high PH. You can just spread lime right on the pine needles at any time it will work its way in. Do check the PH though , your probably not dealing with Davids situation. If not lime it

I use some 5%-ish local soil - high in Ca, and charcoal bits as a buffer - that charcoal is a new idea this year, its slightly basic. And free :-).

Then much of the rest of the mix is pine bark, peat moss, - both acidic - and what ever else comes to hand to keep the mix it light and friable.