Soil pH in Scotland, MO: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Scotland, MO

Typical topsoil in Scotland, MO is pH 6.31, already right for vegetable garden (6-7). Test before adding anything.

What Scotland 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 6.31, 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 279,115 surveyed acres in Scotland, MO, 50% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5), 45% are near neutral (6.5-7.3), 3% are alkaline (above 7.3), 2% are strongly acidic (below 5.5). Mapped soils run from pH 4.2 to 7.7, a spread of 3.5 units across 197 soil components. No single class covers 60% of the county, so two gardens a few miles apart here can need opposite treatments. Test your own bed.

Clay, organic matter and rates

Topsoil here averages 21% clay and 2.41% 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.

Scotland against the rest of Missouri

pH 6.31 is 0.18 above the Missouri median of 6.13. 78 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: Cass (6.29), Nodaway (6.3), Boone (6.31), Lewis (6.31), Bates (6.33), Pettis (6.33), Putnam (6.33), Ralls (6.34).

The range in Missouri runs from Carter at 5.08 to Knox at 6.71; Scotland sits 75% of the way up.