Soil pH in Parmer, TX: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Parmer, TX

Typical topsoil in Parmer, TX is pH 7.38, too alkaline for vegetable garden. Expect roughly 2.1 lb of sulfur per 100 sq ft, but only after a soil test confirms it.

What Parmer needs, by plant

• Sulfur: lawn (cool-season grass) 2.1 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; vegetable garden 2.1 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; tomatoes 2.1 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; potatoes 4.4 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; strawberries 3.2 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; roses 2.1 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; blueberries 5.5 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; azaleas and rhododendrons 4.8 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; blue hydrangeas 4.8 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; pink hydrangeas 2.5 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications.

What to do next

If your test confirms pH near 7.38, work in about 21 lb of elemental sulfur per 1,000 sq ft of vegetable bed in 2 doses.

How mixed the soil is

Of the 564,274 surveyed acres in Parmer, TX, 73% are near neutral (6.5-7.3), 27% are alkaline (above 7.3). Mapped soils run from pH 6.9 to 8.4, a spread of 1.5 units across 186 soil components. 73% 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 26.7% clay and 2.43% 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. 16% of mapped components carry free carbonate (lime already in the ground).

Parmer against the rest of Texas

pH 7.38 is 0.05 below the Texas median of 7.43. 116 of 254 Texas counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more alkaline than the US county median of 6.05.

Closest in pH within the state: Duval (7.37), Johnson (7.37), Erath (7.38), Hale (7.38), Castro (7.4), Floyd (7.4), Hardeman (7.4), Hemphill (7.4).

The range in Texas runs from Hardin at 4.64 to Upton at 8.19; Parmer sits 77% of the way up.