Soil pH in Assumption, LA: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Assumption, LA

Typical topsoil in Assumption, LA is pH 6.44, already right for vegetable garden (6-7). Test before adding anything.

What Assumption needs, by plant

• Already in range: lawn (cool-season grass), vegetable garden, tomatoes, strawberries, roses, pink hydrangeas.
• Beds or pots instead: potatoes, blueberries, azaleas and rhododendrons, blue hydrangeas.

What to do next

If your test lands near 6.44, you can skip lime and sulfur for lawn (cool-season grass), vegetable garden, tomatoes, strawberries, roses, pink hydrangeas.

How mixed the soil is

Of the 207,038 surveyed acres in Assumption, LA, 65% are near neutral (6.5-7.3), 35% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5). Mapped soils run from pH 5.7 to 7.3, a spread of 1.6 units across 24 soil components. 65% 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 62.6% clay and 5.72% organic matter, which this site treats as clay. At 5.72% organic matter the soil buffers like a heavier one, which pushes it into the clay bracket. Moving it one pH unit takes about 11.5 lb of lime or 3.4 lb of sulfur per 100 sq ft. 32% of mapped components carry free carbonate (lime already in the ground), enough that sulfur gets neutralised before it does much.

Assumption against the rest of Louisiana

pH 6.44 is 0.9 above the Louisiana median of 5.54. 51 of 64 Louisiana counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more alkaline than the US county median of 6.05.

Closest in pH within the state: Jefferson (6.36), Iberville (6.38), Terrebonne (6.41), Ascension (6.44), Avoyelles (6.44), Iberia (6.49), St. Mary (6.52), St. Charles (6.53).

The range in Louisiana runs from Allen at 4.88 to St. Bernard at 7; Assumption sits 74% of the way up.