Soil pH in Worcester, MA: Lime or Sulfur?

Typical topsoil pH in Worcester, MA

Typical topsoil in Worcester, MA is pH 5.02, too acidic for vegetable garden. Expect roughly 10.5 lb of lime per 100 sq ft, but only after a soil test confirms it.

What Worcester needs, by plant

• Already in range: potatoes, blueberries, azaleas and rhododendrons, blue hydrangeas.
• Lime: lawn (cool-season grass) 10.5 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; vegetable garden 10.5 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; tomatoes 10.5 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; strawberries 7 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications; roses 10.5 lb/100 sq ft over 3 applications; pink hydrangeas 8.4 lb/100 sq ft over 2 applications.

What to do next

If your test confirms pH near 5.02, spread about 105 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 871,681 surveyed acres in Worcester, MA, 69% are strongly acidic (below 5.5), 30% are moderately acidic (5.5-6.5). Mapped soils run from pH 4 to 7, a spread of 3 units across 788 soil components. 69% 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 6% clay and 7.21% organic matter, which this site treats as loam. At 7.21% 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.

Worcester against the rest of Massachusetts

pH 5.02 is right at the Massachusetts median of 5.02. 5 of 14 Massachusetts counties have more acidic topsoil. Nationally it is more acidic than the US county median of 6.05.

Closest in pH within the state: Franklin (5), Hampden (5.02), Norfolk (5.02), Suffolk (5.02), Middlesex (5.08), Essex (5.11), Berkshire (5.12), Bristol (5.14).

The range in Massachusetts runs from Nantucket at 4.64 to Hampshire at 5.28; Worcester sits 59% of the way up.