Soil pH in Ohio, WV: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Ohio, WV

Typical topsoil in Ohio, WV is pH 5.72, too acidic for vegetable garden. Expect roughly 5.6 lb of lime per 100 sq ft, but only after a soil test confirms it.

What Ohio needs, by plant

• Already in range: potatoes, strawberries, azaleas and rhododendrons.
• Just outside, test first: blueberries (off by 0.2), blue hydrangeas (off by 0.2).
• Lime: lawn (cool-season grass) 5.6 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; vegetable garden 5.6 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; tomatoes 5.6 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; roses 5.6 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; pink hydrangeas 3.5 lb/100 sq ft.

What to do next

If your test confirms pH near 5.72, spread about 56 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 48,230 surveyed acres in Ohio, WV, 90% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5), 6% are strongly acidic (below 5.5), 5% are near neutral (6.5-7.3). Mapped soils run from pH 5.1 to 7.1, a spread of 2 units across 39 soil components. 90% 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 20.1% clay and 4.37% 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.

Ohio against the rest of West Virginia

pH 5.72 is 0.57 above the West Virginia median of 5.15. 52 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: Marion (5.44), Hancock (5.49), Berkeley (5.6), Brooke (5.71), Jefferson (5.87), Marshall (6.17).

The range in West Virginia runs from McDowell at 4.42 to Marshall at 6.17; Ohio sits 74% of the way up.