Soil pH in Macon, NC: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Macon, NC

Typical topsoil in Macon, NC is pH 5.13, too acidic for vegetable garden. Expect roughly 16.1 lb of lime per 100 sq ft, but only after a soil test confirms it.

What Macon needs, by plant

• Already in range: potatoes, blueberries, azaleas and rhododendrons, blue hydrangeas.
• Lime: lawn (cool-season grass) 16.1 lb/100 sq ft over 4 applications; vegetable garden 16.1 lb/100 sq ft over 4 applications; tomatoes 16.1 lb/100 sq ft over 4 applications; strawberries 10.4 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; roses 16.1 lb/100 sq ft over 4 applications; pink hydrangeas 12.7 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications.

What to do next

If your test confirms pH near 5.13, spread about 161 lb of ground limestone per 1,000 sq ft of vegetable bed in 4 doses, ideally in fall.

How mixed the soil is

Of the 309,083 surveyed acres in Macon, NC, 82% are strongly acidic (below 5.5), 17% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5), 1% are near neutral (6.5-7.3). Mapped soils run from pH 3.3 to 6.5, a spread of 3.2 units across 307 soil components. 82% 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 14.8% clay and 5.96% organic matter, which this site treats as clay. At 5.96% organic matter the soil buffers like a heavier one, which pushes it into the clay bracket. Moving it one pH unit takes about 11.5 lb of lime or 3.4 lb of sulfur per 100 sq ft. None of the mapped components carry free carbonate.

Macon against the rest of North Carolina

pH 5.13 is right at the North Carolina median of 5.16. 46 of 100 North Carolina counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more acidic than the US county median of 6.05.

Closest in pH within the state: Stanly (5.11), Yancey (5.11), McDowell (5.12), Dare (5.13), Harnett (5.15), Hoke (5.15), Halifax (5.17), Hyde (5.19).

The range in North Carolina runs from Swain at 4.56 to Davie at 5.9; Macon sits 43% of the way up.