Soil pH in Swisher, TX: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Swisher, TX

Typical topsoil in Swisher, TX is pH 7.41, too alkaline for vegetable garden. Expect roughly 3.1 lb of sulfur per 100 sq ft, but only after a soil test confirms it.

What Swisher needs, by plant

• Sulfur: lawn (cool-season grass) 3.1 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; vegetable garden 3.1 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; tomatoes 3.1 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; potatoes 6.5 lb/100 sq ft over 4 applications; strawberries 4.8 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; roses 3.1 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; blueberries 8.2 lb/100 sq ft over 5 applications; azaleas and rhododendrons 7.5 lb/100 sq ft over 4 applications; blue hydrangeas 7.5 lb/100 sq ft over 4 applications; pink hydrangeas 4.1 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications.

What to do next

If your test confirms pH near 7.41, work in about 31 lb of elemental sulfur per 1,000 sq ft of vegetable bed in 2 doses.

How mixed the soil is

Of the 562,363 surveyed acres in Swisher, TX, 76% are near neutral (6.5-7.3), 24% are alkaline (above 7.3). Mapped soils run from pH 6.9 to 8.2, a spread of 1.3 units across 80 soil components. 76% 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 33% clay and 2.47% organic matter, which this site treats as clay. Moving it one pH unit takes about 11.5 lb of lime or 3.4 lb of sulfur per 100 sq ft. 15% of mapped components carry free carbonate (lime already in the ground).

Swisher against the rest of Texas

pH 7.41 is right at the Texas median of 7.43. 123 of 254 Texas counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more alkaline than the US county median of 6.05.

Closest in pH within the state: Floyd (7.4), Hardeman (7.4), Hemphill (7.4), Jones (7.41), Collingsworth (7.42), Karnes (7.43), Motley (7.43), Jeff Davis (7.44).

The range in Texas runs from Hardin at 4.64 to Upton at 8.19; Swisher sits 78% of the way up.