Soil pH in McIntosh, GA: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in McIntosh, GA

Typical topsoil in McIntosh, GA is pH 5.48, too acidic for vegetable garden. Expect roughly 11.5 lb of lime per 100 sq ft, but only after a soil test confirms it.

What McIntosh needs, by plant

• Already in range: potatoes, blueberries, azaleas and rhododendrons, blue hydrangeas.
• Just outside, test first: strawberries (off by 0).
• Lime: lawn (cool-season grass) 11.5 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; vegetable garden 11.5 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; tomatoes 11.5 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; roses 11.5 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; pink hydrangeas 9.2 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications.

What to do next

If your test confirms pH near 5.48, spread about 115 lb of ground limestone per 1,000 sq ft of vegetable bed in 3 doses, ideally in fall.

How mixed the soil is

Of the 261,543 surveyed acres in McIntosh, GA, 72% are strongly acidic (below 5.5), 26% are near neutral (6.5-7.3), 2% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5). Mapped soils run from pH 4.3 to 7.3, a spread of 3 units across 45 soil components. 72% 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 21.6% clay and 6.46% organic matter, which this site treats as clay. At 6.46% 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.

McIntosh against the rest of Georgia

pH 5.48 is 0.15 above the Georgia median of 5.33. 129 of 159 Georgia counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more acidic than the US county median of 6.05.

Closest in pH within the state: Laurens (5.47), Oglethorpe (5.47), Butts (5.48), DeKalb (5.48), Newton (5.48), Paulding (5.48), Spalding (5.48), Turner (5.48).

The range in Georgia runs from Clinch at 4.64 to Elbert at 5.68; McIntosh sits 81% of the way up.