Soil pH in Chippewa, MI: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Chippewa, MI

Typical topsoil in Chippewa, MI is pH 5.63, too acidic for vegetable garden. Expect roughly 2.7 lb of lime per 100 sq ft, but only after a soil test confirms it.

What Chippewa needs, by plant

• Already in range: potatoes, strawberries, azaleas and rhododendrons.
• Just outside, test first: blueberries (off by 0.1), blue hydrangeas (off by 0.1).
• Lime: lawn (cool-season grass) 2.7 lb/100 sq ft; vegetable garden 2.7 lb/100 sq ft; tomatoes 2.7 lb/100 sq ft; roses 2.7 lb/100 sq ft; pink hydrangeas 1.8 lb/100 sq ft.

What to do next

If your test confirms pH near 5.63, spread about 27 lb of ground limestone per 1,000 sq ft of vegetable bed, ideally in fall.

How mixed the soil is

Of the 874,740 surveyed acres in Chippewa, MI, 44% are strongly acidic (below 5.5), 40% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5), 9% are near neutral (6.5-7.3), 7% are alkaline (above 7.3). Mapped soils run from pH 3.5 to 8, a spread of 4.5 units across 473 soil components. No single class covers 60% of the county, so two gardens a few miles apart here can need opposite treatments. Test your own bed.

Clay, organic matter and rates

Topsoil here averages 9.7% clay and 4.12% organic matter, which this site treats as sandy. Moving it one pH unit takes about 3 lb of lime or 1.2 lb of sulfur per 100 sq ft. 7% of mapped components carry free carbonate (lime already in the ground).

Chippewa against the rest of Michigan

pH 5.63 is 0.41 below the Michigan median of 6.04. 27 of 83 Michigan counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more acidic than the US county median of 6.05.

Closest in pH within the state: Ogemaw (5.51), Antrim (5.52), Missaukee (5.55), Iosco (5.62), Oceana (5.66), Mason (5.72), Alcona (5.73), Osceola (5.75).

The range in Michigan runs from Baraga at 4.72 to Huron at 7.03; Chippewa sits 39% of the way up.