Soil pH in Fauquier, VA: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Fauquier, VA

Typical topsoil in Fauquier, VA is pH 5.23, too acidic for vegetable garden. Expect roughly 9.1 lb of lime per 100 sq ft, but only after a soil test confirms it.

What Fauquier needs, by plant

• Already in range: potatoes, blueberries, azaleas and rhododendrons, blue hydrangeas.
• Lime: lawn (cool-season grass) 9.1 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; vegetable garden 9.1 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; tomatoes 9.1 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; strawberries 5.6 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; roses 9.1 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; pink hydrangeas 7 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications.

What to do next

If your test confirms pH near 5.23, spread about 91 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 357,917 surveyed acres in Fauquier, VA, 73% are strongly acidic (below 5.5), 27% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5). Mapped soils run from pH 4.1 to 6.5, a spread of 2.4 units across 223 soil components. 73% 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 18.1% clay and 1.75% 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. None of the mapped components carry free carbonate.

Fauquier against the rest of Virginia

pH 5.23 is right at the Virginia median of 5.24. 58 of 127 Virginia counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more acidic than the US county median of 6.05.

Closest in pH within the state: Covington City (5.19), Franklin (5.2), Spotsylvania (5.2), Amherst (5.23), Fluvanna (5.23), Tazewell (5.23), Brunswick (5.24), Greene (5.24).

The range in Virginia runs from Newport News City at 4.76 to Poquoson City at 6.36; Fauquier sits 29% of the way up.