Soil pH in Camden, GA: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Camden, GA

Typical topsoil in Camden, GA is pH 5.31, too acidic for vegetable garden. Expect roughly 13.8 lb of lime per 100 sq ft, but only after a soil test confirms it.

What Camden needs, by plant

• Already in range: potatoes, blueberries, azaleas and rhododendrons, blue hydrangeas.
• Just outside, test first: strawberries (off by 0.2).
• Lime: lawn (cool-season grass) 13.8 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; vegetable garden 13.8 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; tomatoes 13.8 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; roses 13.8 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; pink hydrangeas 10.4 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications.

What to do next

If your test confirms pH near 5.31, spread about 138 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 396,981 surveyed acres in Camden, GA, 62% are strongly acidic (below 5.5), 21% are near neutral (6.5-7.3), 17% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5). Mapped soils run from pH 4.2 to 7.3, a spread of 3.1 units across 33 soil components. 62% 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 15.9% clay and 5.37% organic matter, which this site treats as clay. At 5.37% 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. None of the mapped components carry free carbonate.

Camden against the rest of Georgia

pH 5.31 is right at the Georgia median of 5.33. 65 of 159 Georgia counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more acidic than the US county median of 6.05.

Closest in pH within the state: Chatham (5.3), Walker (5.3), Warren (5.3), Wilcox (5.3), Decatur (5.31), Greene (5.31), Quitman (5.31), Terrell (5.31).

The range in Georgia runs from Clinch at 4.64 to Elbert at 5.68; Camden sits 64% of the way up.