Soil pH in McPherson, SD: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in McPherson, SD

Typical topsoil in McPherson, SD is pH 7.12, just outside the 6-7 range for vegetable garden. Test first; it may need nothing.

What McPherson needs, by plant

• Just outside, test first: lawn (cool-season grass) (off by 0.1), vegetable garden (off by 0.1), roses (off by 0.1).
• Sulfur: tomatoes 1.4 lb/100 sq ft; potatoes 3.7 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; strawberries 2.5 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; blueberries 4.8 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; azaleas and rhododendrons 4.4 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; blue hydrangeas 4.4 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; pink hydrangeas 2.1 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications.

What to do next

If your test lands near 7.12, you can skip lime and sulfur for lawn (cool-season grass), vegetable garden, roses.

How mixed the soil is

Of the 726,554 surveyed acres in McPherson, SD, 82% are near neutral (6.5-7.3), 18% are alkaline (above 7.3). Mapped soils run from pH 5.8 to 8.2, a spread of 2.4 units across 1,091 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 23% clay and 3.85% 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. 20% of mapped components carry free carbonate (lime already in the ground).

McPherson against the rest of South Dakota

pH 7.12 is 0.13 above the South Dakota median of 6.99. 50 of 66 South Dakota counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more alkaline than the US county median of 6.05.

Closest in pH within the state: Day (7.08), Roberts (7.08), Tripp (7.08), Fall River (7.1), Ziebach (7.13), Gregory (7.15), Meade (7.18), Campbell (7.2).

The range in South Dakota runs from Lawrence at 6.49 to Jones at 7.47; McPherson sits 64% of the way up.