pH can be lifted with lime or hydroxides such as KOH, potassium hydroxide. KOH is super caustic and hard to handle by itself. Any value added fertilizer using KOH will raise pH rapidly and for a longer time than lime. I've never used any as a foliar application, so extreme caution would be advised.
2 pounds of lime requires approx. 750 gallons of water to put it into solution. So in general, lime makes for a slow reaction. Rate equations I use don't consider aggregate size but only buffering capacity, initial pH, and calcium carbonate equivalent of the liming material. Though surface area of the aggregate is important for depth of pH adjustment and speed of reaction. Rate calculations can be made as complicated as you like, bottom line use a published table for your soil texture, that will get you close enough. An alternative to powdered lime is wet ground lime packed dry or in liquid suspension. Columbia River Carbonates sells this super fine lime through a bunch of Ag distributors. I think liquid lime is one of the product labels or at least would be a good google key word. First time I handled it I was amazed how heavy it is- something like 20 lb/gal I think.
