Soil pH in Dawson, TX: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Dawson, TX

Typical topsoil in Dawson, TX is pH 7.67, too alkaline for vegetable garden. Expect roughly 2.8 lb of sulfur per 100 sq ft, but only after a soil test confirms it.

What Dawson needs, by plant

• Sulfur: lawn (cool-season grass) 2.8 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; vegetable garden 2.8 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; tomatoes 2.8 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; potatoes 5.1 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; strawberries 3.9 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; roses 2.8 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; blueberries 6.2 lb/100 sq ft over 4 applications; azaleas and rhododendrons 5.5 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; blue hydrangeas 5.5 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; pink hydrangeas 3.2 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications.

What to do next

If your test confirms pH near 7.67, work in about 28 lb of elemental sulfur per 1,000 sq ft of vegetable bed in 2 doses.

How mixed the soil is

Of the 569,627 surveyed acres in Dawson, TX, 90% are alkaline (above 7.3), 10% are near neutral (6.5-7.3). Mapped soils run from pH 6.6 to 8.8, a spread of 2.2 units across 207 soil components. 90% 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 1.07% 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. 24% of mapped components carry free carbonate (lime already in the ground).

Dawson against the rest of Texas

pH 7.67 is 0.24 above the Texas median of 7.43. 181 of 254 Texas counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more alkaline than the US county median of 6.05.

Closest in pH within the state: Edwards (7.65), McLennan (7.65), Kimble (7.66), Webb (7.66), Live Oak (7.67), Williamson (7.67), Briscoe (7.68), Martin (7.68).

The range in Texas runs from Hardin at 4.64 to Upton at 8.19; Dawson sits 85% of the way up.