Soil pH in Columbia, WA: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Columbia, WA

Typical topsoil in Columbia, WA is pH 7.05, just outside the 6-7 range for vegetable garden. Test first; it may need nothing.

What Columbia needs, by plant

• Just outside, test first: lawn (cool-season grass) (off by 0), vegetable garden (off by 0), roses (off by 0).
• Sulfur: tomatoes 1.2 lb/100 sq ft; potatoes 3.5 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; strawberries 2.3 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; blueberries 4.8 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; azaleas and rhododendrons 4.1 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; blue hydrangeas 4.1 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; pink hydrangeas 1.8 lb/100 sq ft.

What to do next

If your test lands near 7.05, you can skip lime and sulfur for lawn (cool-season grass), vegetable garden, roses.

How mixed the soil is

Of the 299,224 surveyed acres in Columbia, WA, 85% are near neutral (6.5-7.3), 12% are alkaline (above 7.3), 4% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5). Mapped soils run from pH 5.6 to 8.5, a spread of 2.9 units across 216 soil components. 85% 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 14.7% clay and 2.61% 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. 2% of mapped components carry free carbonate (lime already in the ground).

Columbia against the rest of Washington

pH 7.05 is 0.64 above the Washington median of 6.41. 32 of 39 Washington counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more alkaline than the US county median of 6.05.

Closest in pH within the state: Yakima (6.83), Douglas (6.88), Garfield (7.01), Asotin (7.04), Lincoln (7.12), Walla Walla (7.23), Franklin (7.32), Grant (7.37).

The range in Washington runs from Grays Harbor at 4.93 to Adams at 7.45; Columbia sits 84% of the way up.