Soil pH in Pettis, MO: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Pettis, MO

Typical topsoil in Pettis, MO is pH 6.33, already right for vegetable garden (6-7). Test before adding anything.

What Pettis needs, by plant

• Already in range: lawn (cool-season grass), vegetable garden, tomatoes, strawberries, roses, pink hydrangeas.
• Sulfur: potatoes 1.8 lb/100 sq ft; blueberries 3 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; azaleas and rhododendrons 2.5 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; blue hydrangeas 2.5 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications.

What to do next

If your test lands near 6.33, 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 437,265 surveyed acres in Pettis, MO, 62% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5), 37% are near neutral (6.5-7.3). Mapped soils run from pH 4.8 to 7.7, a spread of 2.9 units across 247 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 21.5% clay and 2.54% 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.

Pettis against the rest of Missouri

pH 6.33 is 0.2 above the Missouri median of 6.13. 81 of 114 Missouri counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more alkaline than the US county median of 6.05.

Closest in pH within the state: Boone (6.31), Lewis (6.31), Scotland (6.31), Bates (6.33), Putnam (6.33), Ralls (6.34), Caldwell (6.35), Harrison (6.35).

The range in Missouri runs from Carter at 5.08 to Knox at 6.71; Pettis sits 77% of the way up.