Soil pH in Pittsylvania, VA: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Pittsylvania, VA

Typical topsoil in Pittsylvania, VA is pH 5.55, too acidic for vegetable garden. Expect roughly 7 lb of lime per 100 sq ft, but only after a soil test confirms it.

What Pittsylvania needs, by plant

• Already in range: potatoes, strawberries, azaleas and rhododendrons.
• Just outside, test first: blueberries (off by 0), blue hydrangeas (off by 0).
• Lime: lawn (cool-season grass) 7 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; vegetable garden 7 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; tomatoes 7 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; roses 7 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; pink hydrangeas 4.9 lb/100 sq ft.

What to do next

If your test confirms pH near 5.55, spread about 70 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 551,820 surveyed acres in Pittsylvania, VA, 74% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5), 20% are strongly acidic (below 5.5), 6% are near neutral (6.5-7.3). Mapped soils run from pH 4.6 to 7, a spread of 2.4 units across 87 soil components. 74% 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 13.2% clay and 1.15% 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.

Pittsylvania against the rest of Virginia

pH 5.55 is 0.31 above the Virginia median of 5.24. 111 of 127 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: Prince Edward (5.51), Bristol City (5.52), Floyd (5.54), Northampton (5.54), King and Queen (5.57), Lee (5.58), Mecklenburg (5.63), Cumberland (5.64).

The range in Virginia runs from Newport News City at 4.76 to Poquoson City at 6.36; Pittsylvania sits 49% of the way up.