Soil pH in Charleston, SC: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Charleston, SC

Typical topsoil in Charleston, SC is pH 4.8, 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 Charleston 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 10.5 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications.

What to do next

If your test confirms pH near 4.8, 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 594,844 surveyed acres in Charleston, SC, 95% are strongly acidic (below 5.5), 5% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5), 1% are near neutral (6.5-7.3). Mapped soils run from pH 4.2 to 6.5, a spread of 2.3 units across 75 soil components. 95% 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 15.6% clay and 1.53% 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.

Charleston against the rest of South Carolina

pH 4.8 is 0.5 below the South Carolina median of 5.3. 0 of 46 South 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: Clarendon (4.87), Williamsburg (4.96), Darlington (4.99), Dillon (5.01).