Soil pH in Bertie, NC: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Bertie, NC

Typical topsoil in Bertie, NC is pH 4.84, too acidic for vegetable garden. Expect roughly 11.9 lb of lime per 100 sq ft, but only after a soil test confirms it.

What Bertie needs, by plant

• Already in range: blueberries, azaleas and rhododendrons.
• Just outside, test first: potatoes (off by 0.2), blue hydrangeas (off by 0.2).
• Lime: lawn (cool-season grass) 11.9 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; vegetable garden 11.9 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; tomatoes 11.9 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; strawberries 8.4 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; roses 11.9 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; pink hydrangeas 9.8 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications.

What to do next

If your test confirms pH near 4.84, spread about 119 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 404,841 surveyed acres in Bertie, NC, 90% are strongly acidic (below 5.5), 10% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5). Mapped soils run from pH 4.5 to 6.2, a spread of 1.7 units across 87 soil components. 90% 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 13.5% clay and 2.21% 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.

Bertie against the rest of North Carolina

pH 4.84 is 0.32 below the North Carolina median of 5.16. 7 of 100 North Carolina counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more acidic than the US county median of 6.05.

Closest in pH within the state: Pitt (4.8), Currituck (4.81), Hertford (4.82), Cherokee (4.83), Craven (4.84), Gates (4.84), Wilson (4.84), Haywood (4.85).

The range in North Carolina runs from Swain at 4.56 to Davie at 5.9; Bertie sits 21% of the way up.