Soil pH in Winchester City, VA: Lime or Sulfur?
Typical topsoil pH in Winchester City, VA
Typical topsoil in Winchester City, VA is pH 5.73, too acidic for vegetable garden. Expect roughly 5.6 lb of lime per 100 sq ft, but only after a soil test confirms it.
What Winchester City needs, by plant
- Already in range: potatoes, strawberries, azaleas and rhododendrons.
- Just outside, test first: blueberries (off by 0.2), blue hydrangeas (off by 0.2).
- Lime: lawn (cool-season grass) 5.6 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; vegetable garden 5.6 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; tomatoes 5.6 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; roses 5.6 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; pink hydrangeas 3.5 lb/100 sq ft.
What to do next
If your test confirms pH near 5.73, spread about 56 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 2,611 surveyed acres in Winchester City, VA, 87% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5), 6% are strongly acidic (below 5.5), 4% are alkaline (above 7.3), 4% are near neutral (6.5-7.3). Mapped soils run from pH 4.6 to 7.9, a spread of 3.3 units across 68 soil components. 87% 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 20.6% clay and 1.62% 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. 4% of mapped components carry free carbonate (lime already in the ground).
Winchester City against the rest of Virginia
pH 5.73 is 0.49 above the Virginia median of 5.24. 119 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: Cumberland (5.64), Clarke (5.66), Norfolk City (5.69), Halifax (5.72), Bedford City (5.78), Wise (5.82), South Boston City (5.82), Danville City (5.95).
The range in Virginia runs from Newport News City at 4.76 to Poquoson City at 6.36; Winchester City sits 61% of the way up.