Soil pH in Allegany, MD: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Allegany, MD

Typical topsoil in Allegany, MD is pH 5, too acidic for vegetable garden. Expect roughly 10.5 lb of lime per 100 sq ft, but only after a soil test confirms it.

What Allegany needs, by plant

• Already in range: potatoes, blueberries, azaleas and rhododendrons, blue hydrangeas.
• Lime: lawn (cool-season grass) 10.5 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; vegetable garden 10.5 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; tomatoes 10.5 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; strawberries 7 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; roses 10.5 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; pink hydrangeas 9.1 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications.

What to do next

If your test confirms pH near 5, spread about 105 lb of ground limestone per 1,000 sq ft of vegetable bed in 3 doses, ideally in fall.

How mixed the soil is

Of the 256,567 surveyed acres in Allegany, MD, 78% are strongly acidic (below 5.5), 16% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5), 6% are near neutral (6.5-7.3). Mapped soils run from pH 3.9 to 6.8, a spread of 2.9 units across 854 soil components. 78% of the land falls in one class, so the county figure is a fair first guess for most yards here.

Clay, organic matter and rates

Topsoil here averages 17% clay and 3.45% organic matter, which this site treats as loam. Moving it one pH unit takes about 7 lb of lime or 2.3 lb of sulfur per 100 sq ft. None of the mapped components carry free carbonate.

Allegany against the rest of Maryland

pH 5 is 0.49 below the Maryland median of 5.49. 3 of 24 Maryland counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more acidic than the US county median of 6.05.

Closest in pH within the state: Charles (4.47), Prince George's (4.75), Garrett (4.99), Baltimore City (5.03), Anne Arundel (5.05), St. Mary's (5.2), Calvert (5.31).

The range in Maryland runs from Charles at 4.47 to Washington at 6.01; Allegany sits 34% of the way up.