Soil pH in Washington, VA: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Washington, VA

Typical topsoil in Washington, VA is pH 5.41, too acidic for vegetable garden. Expect roughly 7.7 lb of lime per 100 sq ft, but only after a soil test confirms it.

What Washington needs, by plant

• Already in range: potatoes, blueberries, azaleas and rhododendrons, blue hydrangeas.
• Just outside, test first: strawberries (off by 0.1).
• Lime: lawn (cool-season grass) 7.7 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; vegetable garden 7.7 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; tomatoes 7.7 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; roses 7.7 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; pink hydrangeas 5.6 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications.

What to do next

If your test confirms pH near 5.41, spread about 77 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 266,569 surveyed acres in Washington, VA, 57% are strongly acidic (below 5.5), 41% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5), 2% are near neutral (6.5-7.3). Mapped soils run from pH 4 to 7.1, a spread of 3.1 units across 142 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 20.4% clay and 1.46% 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.

Washington against the rest of Virginia

pH 5.41 is 0.17 above the Virginia median of 5.24. 97 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: Dickenson (5.39), Rockbridge (5.39), Fairfax (5.4), Colonial Heights City (5.4), Frederick (5.42), Grayson (5.42), Nottoway (5.43), Salem City (5.43).

The range in Virginia runs from Newport News City at 4.76 to Poquoson City at 6.36; Washington sits 41% of the way up.