Soil pH in South Boston City, VA: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in South Boston City, VA

Typical topsoil in South Boston City, VA is pH 5.82, just outside the 6-7 range for vegetable garden. Test first; it may need nothing.

What South Boston City needs, by plant

• Already in range: potatoes, strawberries, azaleas and rhododendrons.
• Just outside, test first: lawn (cool-season grass) (off by 0.2), vegetable garden (off by 0.2), roses (off by 0.2), pink hydrangeas (off by 0.2).
• Lime: tomatoes 4.9 lb/100 sq ft.
• Sulfur: blueberries 1.8 lb/100 sq ft; blue hydrangeas 1.4 lb/100 sq ft.

What to do next

If your test lands near 5.82, you can skip lime and sulfur for lawn (cool-season grass), vegetable garden, potatoes, strawberries, roses, azaleas and rhododendrons, pink hydrangeas.

How mixed the soil is

Of the 2,641 surveyed acres in South Boston City, VA, 96% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5), 4% are strongly acidic (below 5.5). Mapped soils run from pH 4.7 to 6.3, a spread of 1.6 units across 34 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 13.8% clay and 1.65% 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.

South Boston City against the rest of Virginia

pH 5.82 is 0.58 above the Virginia median of 5.24. 121 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: Halifax (5.72), Winchester City (5.73), Bedford City (5.78), Wise (5.82), Danville City (5.95), Fairfax City (6.28), Falls Church City (6.32), Poquoson City (6.36).

The range in Virginia runs from Newport News City at 4.76 to Poquoson City at 6.36; South Boston City sits 66% of the way up.