Soil pH in Ware, GA: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Ware, GA

Typical topsoil in Ware, GA is pH 4.64, too acidic for vegetable garden. Expect roughly 13.3 lb of lime per 100 sq ft, but only after a soil test confirms it.

What Ware needs, by plant

• Already in range: blueberries, azaleas and rhododendrons.
• Lime: lawn (cool-season grass) 13.3 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; vegetable garden 13.3 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; tomatoes 13.3 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; potatoes 6.3 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; strawberries 9.8 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; roses 13.3 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; blue hydrangeas 4.2 lb/100 sq ft; pink hydrangeas 11.2 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications.

What to do next

If your test confirms pH near 4.64, spread about 133 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 425,582 surveyed acres in Ware, GA, 100% are strongly acidic (below 5.5). Mapped soils run from pH 4 to 6.5, a spread of 2.5 units across 73 soil components. 100% 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 7.6% clay and 5.73% organic matter, which this site treats as loam. At 5.73% organic matter the soil buffers like a heavier one, which pushes it into the loam bracket. 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.

Ware against the rest of Georgia

pH 4.64 is 0.69 below the Georgia median of 5.33. 0 of 159 Georgia counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more acidic than the US county median of 6.05.

Closest in pH within the state: Clinch (4.64), Charlton (4.72), Echols (4.75), Brantley (4.76), Effingham (4.84).

The range in Georgia runs from Clinch at 4.64 to Elbert at 5.68; Ware sits 0% of the way up.