Soil pH in McClain, OK: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in McClain, OK

Typical topsoil in McClain, OK is pH 6.77, already right for vegetable garden (6-7). Test before adding anything.

What McClain needs, by plant

• Already in range: lawn (cool-season grass), vegetable garden, tomatoes, roses.
• Sulfur: potatoes 3 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; strawberries 1.8 lb/100 sq ft; blueberries 4.1 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; azaleas and rhododendrons 3.5 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; blue hydrangeas 3.5 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; pink hydrangeas 1.2 lb/100 sq ft.

What to do next

If your test lands near 6.77, you can skip lime and sulfur for lawn (cool-season grass), vegetable garden, tomatoes, roses.

How mixed the soil is

Of the 325,869 surveyed acres in McClain, OK, 67% are near neutral (6.5-7.3), 22% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5), 9% are alkaline (above 7.3), 2% are strongly acidic (below 5.5). Mapped soils run from pH 5.3 to 8.2, a spread of 2.9 units across 80 soil components. 67% 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 18.9% clay and 1.76% 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. 10% of mapped components carry free carbonate (lime already in the ground).

McClain against the rest of Oklahoma

pH 6.77 is 0.22 above the Oklahoma median of 6.55. 50 of 77 Oklahoma counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more alkaline than the US county median of 6.05.

Closest in pH within the state: Caddo (6.64), Carter (6.65), Jefferson (6.71), Kay (6.74), Kingfisher (6.78), Comanche (6.79), Garfield (6.82), Alfalfa (6.89).

The range in Oklahoma runs from Adair at 5.12 to Beaver at 7.65; McClain sits 65% of the way up.