Soil pH in Putnam, NY: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Putnam, NY

Typical topsoil in Putnam, NY is pH 4.94, too acidic for vegetable garden. Expect roughly 11.2 lb of lime per 100 sq ft, but only after a soil test confirms it.

What Putnam needs, by plant

• Already in range: blueberries, azaleas and rhododendrons.
• Just outside, test first: potatoes (off by 0.1), blue hydrangeas (off by 0.1).
• Lime: lawn (cool-season grass) 11.2 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; vegetable garden 11.2 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; tomatoes 11.2 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; strawberries 7.7 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; roses 11.2 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; pink hydrangeas 9.1 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications.

What to do next

If your test confirms pH near 4.94, spread about 112 lb of ground limestone per 1,000 sq ft of vegetable bed in 3 doses, ideally in fall.

How mixed the soil is

Of the 130,855 surveyed acres in Putnam, NY, 74% are strongly acidic (below 5.5), 24% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5), 2% are near neutral (6.5-7.3). Mapped soils run from pH 3.8 to 7, a spread of 3.2 units across 218 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 9.1% clay and 7.88% organic matter, which this site treats as loam. At 7.88% organic matter the soil buffers like a heavier one, which pushes it into the loam bracket. Moving it one pH unit takes about 7 lb of lime or 2.3 lb of sulfur per 100 sq ft. 0% of mapped components carry free carbonate (lime already in the ground).

Putnam against the rest of New York

pH 4.94 is 0.83 below the New York median of 5.77. 4 of 62 New York counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more acidic than the US county median of 6.05.

Closest in pH within the state: Hamilton (4.72), Franklin (4.78), Essex (4.84), Suffolk (4.85), Lewis (5.01), Westchester (5.05), Sullivan (5.11), Herkimer (5.14).

The range in New York runs from Hamilton at 4.72 to Kings at 7.15; Putnam sits 9% of the way up.