Soil pH in East Carroll, LA: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in East Carroll, LA

Typical topsoil in East Carroll, LA is pH 6.01, already right for vegetable garden (6-7). Test before adding anything.

What East Carroll needs, by plant

• Already in range: lawn (cool-season grass), vegetable garden, strawberries, roses, pink hydrangeas.
• Just outside, test first: tomatoes (off by 0.2), potatoes (off by 0), azaleas and rhododendrons (off by 0).
• Sulfur: blueberries 3.4 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; blue hydrangeas 2.7 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications.

What to do next

If your test lands near 6.01, you can skip lime and sulfur for lawn (cool-season grass), vegetable garden, tomatoes, potatoes, strawberries, roses, azaleas and rhododendrons, pink hydrangeas.

How mixed the soil is

Of the 246,389 surveyed acres in East Carroll, LA, 44% are strongly acidic (below 5.5), 42% are near neutral (6.5-7.3), 14% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5). Mapped soils run from pH 5.3 to 7.3, a spread of 2 units across 53 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 45% clay and 2.03% organic matter, which this site treats as clay. 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.

East Carroll against the rest of Louisiana

pH 6.01 is 0.47 above the Louisiana median of 5.54. 40 of 64 Louisiana counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more acidic than the US county median of 6.05.

Closest in pH within the state: Caddo (5.75), Tensas (5.76), Natchitoches (5.77), Madison (5.82), Red River (6.04), Concordia (6.11), Vermilion (6.15), Cameron (6.16).

The range in Louisiana runs from Allen at 4.88 to St. Bernard at 7; East Carroll sits 53% of the way up.