Soil pH in Niagara, NY: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Niagara, NY

Typical topsoil in Niagara, NY is pH 6.34, already right for vegetable garden (6-7). Test before adding anything.

What Niagara needs, by plant

• Already in range: lawn (cool-season grass), vegetable garden, tomatoes, strawberries, roses, pink hydrangeas.
• Sulfur: potatoes 2.7 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; blueberries 4.4 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; azaleas and rhododendrons 3.7 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; blue hydrangeas 3.7 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications.

What to do next

If your test lands near 6.34, you can skip lime and sulfur for lawn (cool-season grass), vegetable garden, tomatoes, strawberries, roses, pink hydrangeas.

How mixed the soil is

Of the 263,574 surveyed acres in Niagara, NY, 62% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5), 36% are near neutral (6.5-7.3), 2% are strongly acidic (below 5.5). Mapped soils run from pH 4.6 to 7.3, a spread of 2.7 units across 180 soil components. 62% 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 20.9% clay and 5.3% organic matter, which this site treats as clay. At 5.3% 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.

Niagara against the rest of New York

pH 6.34 is 0.57 above the New York median of 5.77. 54 of 62 New York counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more alkaline than the US county median of 6.05.

Closest in pH within the state: Onondaga (6.27), Orleans (6.28), Montgomery (6.29), Richmond (6.31), Ontario (6.39), Seneca (6.42), Genesee (6.43), Bronx (6.51).

The range in New York runs from Hamilton at 4.72 to Kings at 7.15; Niagara sits 67% of the way up.