Soil pH in Richmond, VA: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Richmond, VA

Typical topsoil in Richmond, VA is pH 4.82, too acidic for vegetable garden. Expect roughly 11.9 lb of lime per 100 sq ft, but only after a soil test confirms it.

What Richmond needs, by plant

• Already in range: blueberries, azaleas and rhododendrons.
• Just outside, test first: potatoes (off by 0.2), blue hydrangeas (off by 0.2).
• Lime: lawn (cool-season grass) 11.9 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; vegetable garden 11.9 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; tomatoes 11.9 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; strawberries 8.4 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; roses 11.9 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; pink hydrangeas 9.8 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications.

What to do next

If your test confirms pH near 4.82, spread about 119 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 105,277 surveyed acres in Richmond, VA, 96% are strongly acidic (below 5.5), 4% are near neutral (6.5-7.3), 1% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5). Mapped soils run from pH 4.6 to 6.7, a spread of 2.1 units across 43 soil components. 96% 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 11.3% clay and 1.78% 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.

Richmond against the rest of Virginia

pH 4.82 is 0.42 below the Virginia median of 5.24. 2 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: Newport News City (4.76), Alexandria City (4.8), Lancaster (4.82), Northumberland (4.82), Williamsburg City (4.82), Westmoreland (4.84), Mathews (4.85), Sussex (4.86).

The range in Virginia runs from Newport News City at 4.76 to Poquoson City at 6.36; Richmond sits 4% of the way up.