Soil pH in Nome Census Area, AK: Lime or Sulfur?
Typical topsoil pH in Nome Census Area, AK
Typical topsoil in Nome Census Area, AK is pH 5.37, too acidic for vegetable garden. Expect roughly 7.7 lb of lime per 100 sq ft, but only after a soil test confirms it.
What Nome Census Area needs, by plant
- Already in range: potatoes, blueberries, azaleas and rhododendrons, blue hydrangeas.
- Just outside, test first: strawberries (off by 0.1).
- Lime: lawn (cool-season grass) 7.7 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; vegetable garden 7.7 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; tomatoes 7.7 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; roses 7.7 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; pink hydrangeas 6.3 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications.
What to do next
If your test confirms pH near 5.37, spread about 77 lb of ground limestone per 1,000 sq ft of vegetable bed in 2 doses, ideally in fall.
How mixed the soil is
Of the 10,676,253 surveyed acres in Nome Census Area, AK, 65% are strongly acidic (below 5.5), 22% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5), 10% are near neutral (6.5-7.3), 3% are alkaline (above 7.3). Mapped soils run from pH 3.4 to 8.2, a spread of 4.8 units across 1,377 soil components. 65% 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 8.1% clay and 8.41% organic matter, which this site treats as loam. At 8.41% organic matter the soil buffers like a heavier one, which pushes it into the loam bracket. Moving it one pH unit takes about 7 lb of lime or 2.3 lb of sulfur per 100 sq ft. 3% of mapped components carry free carbonate (lime already in the ground).
Nome Census Area against the rest of Alaska
pH 5.37 is 0.11 above the Alaska median of 5.26. 18 of 27 Alaska counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more acidic than the US county median of 6.05.
Closest in pH within the state: Juneau Borough (5.3), Petersburg Borough (5.3), Sitka Borough (5.3), Aleutians West Census Area (5.34), Fairbanks North Star Borough (5.56), Bethel Census Area (5.57), North Slope Borough (5.62), Southeast Fairbanks Census Area (5.66).
The range in Alaska runs from Ketchikan Gateway Borough at 4.52 to Yakutat City and Borough at 6.08; Nome Census Area sits 54% of the way up.