Soil pH in Cortland, NY: Lime or Sulfur?
Typical topsoil pH in Cortland, NY
Typical topsoil in Cortland, NY is pH 5.72, too acidic for vegetable garden. Expect roughly 9.2 lb of lime per 100 sq ft, but only after a soil test confirms it.
What Cortland needs, by plant
- Already in range: potatoes, strawberries, azaleas and rhododendrons.
- Just outside, test first: blueberries (off by 0.2), blue hydrangeas (off by 0.2).
- Lime: lawn (cool-season grass) 9.2 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; vegetable garden 9.2 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; tomatoes 9.2 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; roses 9.2 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; pink hydrangeas 5.8 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications.
What to do next
If your test confirms pH near 5.72, spread about 92 lb of ground limestone per 1,000 sq ft of vegetable bed in 2 doses, ideally in fall.
How mixed the soil is
Of the 317,386 surveyed acres in Cortland, NY, 55% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5), 38% are strongly acidic (below 5.5), 6% are near neutral (6.5-7.3), 1% are alkaline (above 7.3). Mapped soils run from pH 4.1 to 7.8, a spread of 3.7 units across 287 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 15.9% clay and 6.8% organic matter, which this site treats as clay. At 6.8% 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.
Cortland against the rest of New York
pH 5.72 is 0.05 below the New York median of 5.77. 29 of 62 New York counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more acidic than the US county median of 6.05.
Closest in pH within the state: Allegany (5.61), Chautauqua (5.66), St. Lawrence (5.67), Oneida (5.69), Otsego (5.72), Chemung (5.82), Chenango (5.82), Albany (5.84).
The range in New York runs from Hamilton at 4.72 to Kings at 7.15; Cortland sits 41% of the way up.