Soil pH in Humboldt, NV: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Humboldt, NV

Typical topsoil in Humboldt, NV is pH 7.78, too alkaline for vegetable garden. Expect roughly 3 lb of sulfur per 100 sq ft, but only after a soil test confirms it.

What Humboldt needs, by plant

• Sulfur: lawn (cool-season grass) 3 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; vegetable garden 3 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; tomatoes 3 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; potatoes 5.3 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; strawberries 4.1 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; roses 3 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; blueberries 6.4 lb/100 sq ft over 4 applications; azaleas and rhododendrons 5.8 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; blue hydrangeas 5.8 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; pink hydrangeas 3.5 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications.

What to do next

If your test confirms pH near 7.78, work in about 30 lb of elemental sulfur per 1,000 sq ft of vegetable bed in 2 doses.

How mixed the soil is

Of the 5,665,674 surveyed acres in Humboldt, NV, 63% are alkaline (above 7.3), 37% are near neutral (6.5-7.3). Mapped soils run from pH 6.1 to 10.1, a spread of 4 units across 1,821 soil components. 63% 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% clay and 1.33% 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. 29% of mapped components carry free carbonate (lime already in the ground).

Humboldt against the rest of Nevada

pH 7.78 is right at the Nevada median of 7.78. 8 of 17 Nevada counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more alkaline than the US county median of 6.05.

Closest in pH within the state: Lyon (7.58), Elko (7.69), Eureka (7.73), Lander (7.77), Lincoln (7.87), Mineral (7.91), Nye (8.02), Pershing (8.07).

The range in Nevada runs from Carson City at 6.85 to Esmeralda at 8.33; Humboldt sits 63% of the way up.