Soil pH in Cooper, MO: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Cooper, MO

Typical topsoil in Cooper, MO is pH 6.26, already right for vegetable garden (6-7). Test before adding anything.

What Cooper needs, by plant

• Already in range: lawn (cool-season grass), vegetable garden, tomatoes, strawberries, roses, pink hydrangeas.
• Sulfur: potatoes 1.8 lb/100 sq ft; blueberries 3 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; azaleas and rhododendrons 2.3 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; blue hydrangeas 2.3 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications.

What to do next

If your test lands near 6.26, you can skip lime and sulfur for lawn (cool-season grass), vegetable garden, tomatoes, strawberries, roses, pink hydrangeas.

How mixed the soil is

Of the 360,591 surveyed acres in Cooper, MO, 68% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5), 29% are near neutral (6.5-7.3), 2% are alkaline (above 7.3), 1% are strongly acidic (below 5.5). Mapped soils run from pH 4.9 to 7.9, a spread of 3 units across 263 soil components. 68% 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 18.3% clay and 2.32% 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. 1% of mapped components carry free carbonate (lime already in the ground).

Cooper against the rest of Missouri

pH 6.26 is 0.13 above the Missouri median of 6.13. 71 of 114 Missouri counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more alkaline than the US county median of 6.05.

Closest in pH within the state: Johnson (6.24), Lafayette (6.24), Clark (6.25), Worth (6.25), Marion (6.26), Warren (6.26), Macon (6.27), Moniteau (6.28).

The range in Missouri runs from Carter at 5.08 to Knox at 6.71; Cooper sits 72% of the way up.