Soil pH in Halifax, VA: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Halifax, VA

Typical topsoil in Halifax, VA is pH 5.72, too acidic for vegetable garden. Expect roughly 5.6 lb of lime per 100 sq ft, but only after a soil test confirms it.

What Halifax 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) 5.6 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; vegetable garden 5.6 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; tomatoes 5.6 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; roses 5.6 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; pink hydrangeas 3.5 lb/100 sq ft.

What to do next

If your test confirms pH near 5.72, spread about 56 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 462,233 surveyed acres in Halifax, VA, 77% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5), 23% are strongly acidic (below 5.5). Mapped soils run from pH 4.7 to 6.9, a spread of 2.2 units across 110 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 16.3% clay and 1.51% 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.

Halifax against the rest of Virginia

pH 5.72 is 0.48 above the Virginia median of 5.24. 118 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: Mecklenburg (5.63), Cumberland (5.64), Clarke (5.66), Norfolk City (5.69), Winchester City (5.73), Bedford City (5.78), Wise (5.82), South Boston City (5.82).

The range in Virginia runs from Newport News City at 4.76 to Poquoson City at 6.36; Halifax sits 60% of the way up.