Soil pH in Mingo, WV: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Mingo, WV

Typical topsoil in Mingo, WV is pH 4.64, too acidic for vegetable garden. Expect roughly 13.3 lb of lime per 100 sq ft, but only after a soil test confirms it.

What Mingo needs, by plant

• Already in range: blueberries, azaleas and rhododendrons.
• Lime: lawn (cool-season grass) 13.3 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; vegetable garden 13.3 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; tomatoes 13.3 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; potatoes 6.3 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; strawberries 9.8 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; roses 13.3 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; blue hydrangeas 4.2 lb/100 sq ft; pink hydrangeas 11.2 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications.

What to do next

If your test confirms pH near 4.64, spread about 133 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 207,717 surveyed acres in Mingo, WV, 72% are strongly acidic (below 5.5), 26% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5), 1% are near neutral (6.5-7.3), 1% are alkaline (above 7.3). Mapped soils run from pH 4 to 8.2, a spread of 4.2 units across 38 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 15.1% clay and 3.46% 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. None of the mapped components carry free carbonate.

Mingo against the rest of West Virginia

pH 4.64 is 0.51 below the West Virginia median of 5.15. 2 of 55 West Virginia counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more acidic than the US county median of 6.05.

Closest in pH within the state: McDowell (4.42), Boone (4.59), Nicholas (4.66), Logan (4.74), Preston (4.84), Randolph (4.87).

The range in West Virginia runs from McDowell at 4.42 to Marshall at 6.17; Mingo sits 13% of the way up.