Soil pH in Howell, MO: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Howell, MO

Typical topsoil in Howell, MO is pH 5.36, too acidic for vegetable garden. Expect roughly 7.7 lb of lime per 100 sq ft, but only after a soil test confirms it.

What Howell needs, by plant

• Already in range: potatoes, blueberries, azaleas and rhododendrons, blue hydrangeas.
• Just outside, test first: strawberries (off by 0.1).
• Lime: lawn (cool-season grass) 7.7 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; vegetable garden 7.7 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; tomatoes 7.7 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; roses 7.7 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; pink hydrangeas 6.3 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications.

What to do next

If your test confirms pH near 5.36, spread about 77 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 591,577 surveyed acres in Howell, MO, 62% are strongly acidic (below 5.5), 29% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5), 9% are near neutral (6.5-7.3). Mapped soils run from pH 4.2 to 7.3, a spread of 3.1 units across 395 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 12.3% clay and 2.17% 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.

Howell against the rest of Missouri

pH 5.36 is 0.77 below the Missouri median of 6.13. 8 of 114 Missouri counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more acidic than the US county median of 6.05.

Closest in pH within the state: Bollinger (5.34), Madison (5.34), Douglas (5.35), Dent (5.36), Texas (5.36), Iron (5.4), Ripley (5.41), Phelps (5.45).

The range in Missouri runs from Carter at 5.08 to Knox at 6.71; Howell sits 17% of the way up.