Soil pH in Hale, TX: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Hale, TX

Typical topsoil in Hale, TX is pH 7.38, too alkaline for vegetable garden. Expect roughly 3.1 lb of sulfur per 100 sq ft, but only after a soil test confirms it.

What Hale needs, by plant

• Sulfur: lawn (cool-season grass) 3.1 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; vegetable garden 3.1 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; tomatoes 3.1 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; potatoes 6.5 lb/100 sq ft over 4 applications; strawberries 4.8 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; roses 3.1 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; blueberries 8.2 lb/100 sq ft over 5 applications; azaleas and rhododendrons 7.1 lb/100 sq ft over 4 applications; blue hydrangeas 7.1 lb/100 sq ft over 4 applications; pink hydrangeas 3.7 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications.

What to do next

If your test confirms pH near 7.38, work in about 31 lb of elemental sulfur per 1,000 sq ft of vegetable bed in 2 doses.

How mixed the soil is

Of the 641,655 surveyed acres in Hale, TX, 77% are near neutral (6.5-7.3), 24% are alkaline (above 7.3). Mapped soils run from pH 6.6 to 8.3, a spread of 1.7 units across 127 soil components. 77% 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 29.1% clay and 2.41% 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. 13% of mapped components carry free carbonate (lime already in the ground).

Hale against the rest of Texas

pH 7.38 is 0.05 below the Texas median of 7.43. 116 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: Dimmit (7.36), Duval (7.37), Johnson (7.37), Erath (7.38), Parmer (7.38), Castro (7.4), Floyd (7.4), Hardeman (7.4).

The range in Texas runs from Hardin at 4.64 to Upton at 8.19; Hale sits 77% of the way up.