Soil pH in Kit Carson, CO: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Kit Carson, CO

Typical topsoil in Kit Carson, CO is pH 7.33, too alkaline for vegetable garden. Expect roughly 1.8 lb of sulfur per 100 sq ft, but only after a soil test confirms it.

What Kit Carson needs, by plant

• Sulfur: lawn (cool-season grass) 1.8 lb/100 sq ft; vegetable garden 1.8 lb/100 sq ft; tomatoes 1.8 lb/100 sq ft; potatoes 4.1 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; strawberries 3 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; roses 1.8 lb/100 sq ft; blueberries 5.3 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; azaleas and rhododendrons 4.8 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; blue hydrangeas 4.8 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; pink hydrangeas 2.5 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications.

What to do next

If your test confirms pH near 7.33, work in about 18 lb of elemental sulfur per 1,000 sq ft of vegetable bed.

How mixed the soil is

Of the 1,374,965 surveyed acres in Kit Carson, CO, 75% are near neutral (6.5-7.3), 25% are alkaline (above 7.3), 1% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5). Mapped soils run from pH 6.3 to 8.8, a spread of 2.5 units across 454 soil components. 75% 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 20.8% clay and 1.8% 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. 21% of mapped components carry free carbonate (lime already in the ground).

Kit Carson against the rest of Colorado

pH 7.33 is 0.16 above the Colorado median of 7.17. 40 of 63 Colorado counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more alkaline than the US county median of 6.05.

Closest in pH within the state: Denver (7.24), Adams (7.25), Broomfield (7.29), Weld (7.29), Cheyenne (7.35), Rio Blanco (7.36), Montezuma (7.39), Saguache (7.39).

The range in Colorado runs from San Juan at 5.53 to Alamosa at 8.28; Kit Carson sits 65% of the way up.