Soil pH in Harney, OR: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Harney, OR

Typical topsoil in Harney, OR is pH 7.47, too alkaline for vegetable garden. Expect roughly 2.3 lb of sulfur per 100 sq ft, but only after a soil test confirms it.

What Harney needs, by plant

• Sulfur: lawn (cool-season grass) 2.3 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; vegetable garden 2.3 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; tomatoes 2.3 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; potatoes 4.6 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; strawberries 3.5 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; roses 2.3 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; blueberries 5.8 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; azaleas and rhododendrons 5.1 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; blue hydrangeas 5.1 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; pink hydrangeas 2.8 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications.

What to do next

If your test confirms pH near 7.47, work in about 23 lb of elemental sulfur per 1,000 sq ft of vegetable bed in 2 doses.

How mixed the soil is

Of the 5,087,450 surveyed acres in Harney, OR, 62% are near neutral (6.5-7.3), 38% are alkaline (above 7.3). Mapped soils run from pH 6.3 to 10.1, a spread of 3.8 units across 773 soil components. 62% 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 23.3% clay and 1.79% 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. 9% of mapped components carry free carbonate (lime already in the ground).

Harney against the rest of Oregon

pH 7.47 is 1.17 above the Oregon median of 6.3. 34 of 36 Oregon counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more alkaline than the US county median of 6.05.

Closest in pH within the state: Gilliam (6.99), Morrow (7.04), Baker (7.1), Lake (7.46), Malheur (7.9).

The range in Oregon runs from Clatsop at 4.89 to Malheur at 7.9; Harney sits 86% of the way up.