Soil pH in Russell, AL: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Russell, AL

Typical topsoil in Russell, AL is pH 5.15, too acidic for vegetable garden. Expect roughly 9.1 lb of lime per 100 sq ft, but only after a soil test confirms it.

What Russell needs, by plant

• Already in range: potatoes, blueberries, azaleas and rhododendrons, blue hydrangeas.
• Lime: lawn (cool-season grass) 9.1 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; vegetable garden 9.1 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; tomatoes 9.1 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; strawberries 5.6 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; roses 9.1 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; pink hydrangeas 7.7 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications.

What to do next

If your test confirms pH near 5.15, spread about 91 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 355,455 surveyed acres in Russell, AL, 77% are strongly acidic (below 5.5), 22% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5), 1% are near neutral (6.5-7.3), 1% are alkaline (above 7.3). Mapped soils run from pH 4.5 to 7.5, a spread of 3 units across 88 soil components. 77% 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 12.5% clay and 1.33% 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. 1% of mapped components carry free carbonate (lime already in the ground).

Russell against the rest of Alabama

pH 5.15 is right at the Alabama median of 5.15. 30 of 67 Alabama counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more acidic than the US county median of 6.05.

Closest in pH within the state: Escambia (5.13), DeKalb (5.14), Calhoun (5.15), Geneva (5.15), Walker (5.15), Coffee (5.16), Cleburne (5.17), Conecuh (5.19).

The range in Alabama runs from Randolph at 4.89 to Lowndes at 6.25; Russell sits 19% of the way up.