Soil pH in Ontonagon, MI: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Ontonagon, MI

Typical topsoil in Ontonagon, MI is pH 5, too acidic for vegetable garden. Expect roughly 17.3 lb of lime per 100 sq ft, but only after a soil test confirms it.

What Ontonagon needs, by plant

• Already in range: potatoes, blueberries, azaleas and rhododendrons, blue hydrangeas.
• Lime: lawn (cool-season grass) 17.3 lb/100 sq ft over 4 applications; vegetable garden 17.3 lb/100 sq ft over 4 applications; tomatoes 17.3 lb/100 sq ft over 4 applications; strawberries 11.5 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; roses 17.3 lb/100 sq ft over 4 applications; pink hydrangeas 15 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications.

What to do next

If your test confirms pH near 5, spread about 173 lb of ground limestone per 1,000 sq ft of vegetable bed in 4 doses, ideally in fall.

How mixed the soil is

Of the 811,211 surveyed acres in Ontonagon, MI, 72% are strongly acidic (below 5.5), 25% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5), 2% are near neutral (6.5-7.3), 1% are alkaline (above 7.3). Mapped soils run from pH 3.1 to 8.4, a spread of 5.3 units across 1,143 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 15.3% clay and 5.31% organic matter, which this site treats as clay. At 5.31% 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. 1% of mapped components carry free carbonate (lime already in the ground).

Ontonagon against the rest of Michigan

pH 5 is 1.04 below the Michigan median of 6.04. 5 of 83 Michigan counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more acidic than the US county median of 6.05.

Closest in pH within the state: Crawford (4.81), Gogebic (4.85), Houghton (4.85), Luce (4.93), Benzie (5.04), Oscoda (5.05), Manistee (5.06), Keweenaw (5.09).

The range in Michigan runs from Baraga at 4.72 to Huron at 7.03; Ontonagon sits 12% of the way up.