Soil temperature

[Chuck]

This has been a miserable year for us gardeners and the way things are shaping up it is going to change our gardening timetable this season. Spring and warmer weather will eventually arrive and I know that I can't wait to start planting things, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Just because we have two or threes week of warm weather and spring has supposedly finally arrived it does not by any means mean it is time to get our hands dirty in the garden. THE SOIL TEMPERATURE IS MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE AIR TEMPERATURE at this point in time. Most of our spring and summer crops require warm soils to germinate from seeds or to actually grow if they are transplants. Most need soil temps of at least 70F and the colder if not frozen it was, the longer it will take for the soil to warm up enough for seeds to germinate. Many if not most will rot and even if they do germinate the soil 2 or 3 inches deep will not allow for rapid root growth because it is still too cold. For transplants like peppers which are normally planted about 4-6 inches deep it is even colder that deep and they will be stunted if they survive at all. The same for tomatoes. It may not kill them but it will greatly slow their growth.. There are ways to warm up the soil such as black plastic but for most of us that is not an option and is the subject for another thread. The soil does not warm up quickly. I have found that investing in a GOOD soil thermometer will save you a lot of time, labor and money. There is nothing more discouraging than watching your seeds fail or your transplants just sit there. Planting at the proper soil temperature will alleviate this and give you a tremendous advantage in growing a successful garden.

 

[CanadianLori]

[QUOTE"Chuck, post: 48168, member: 944"]This has been a miserable year for us gardeners and the way things are shaping up it is going to change our gardening timetable this season. Spring and warmer weather will eventually arrive and I know that I can't wait to start planting things, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Just because we have two or threes week of warm weather and spring has supposedly finally arrived it does not by any means mean it is time to get our hands dirty in the garden. THE SOIL TEMPERATURE IS MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE AIR TEMPERATURE at this point in time. Most of our spring and summer crops require warm soils to germinate from seeds or to actually grow if they are transplants. Most need soil temps of at least 70F and the colder if not frozen it was, the longer it will take for the soil to warm up enough for seeds to germinate. Many if not most will rot and even if they do germinate the soil 2 or 3 inches deep will not allow for rapid root growth because it is still too cold. For transplants like peppers which are normally planted about 4-6 inches deep it is even colder that deep and they will be stunted if they survive at all. The same for tomatoes. It may not kill them but it will greatly slow their growth.. There are ways to warm up the soil such as black plastic but for most of us that is not an option and is the subject for another thread. The soil does not warm up quickly. I have found that investing in a GOOD soil thermometer will save you a lot of time, labor and money. There is nothing more discouraging than watching your seeds fail or your transplants just sit there. Planting at the proper soil temperature will alleviate this and give you a tremendous advantage in growing a successful garden.[/QUOTE]




Where did you source your soil thermometer?

on an aside, did you get your soil block maker? Mine saves me a lot of messing about.

 

[Chuck]

[QUOTE"Chuck, post: 48168, member: 944"]This has been a miserable year for us gardeners and the way things are shaping up it is going to change our gardening timetable this season. Spring and warmer weather will eventually arrive and I know that I can't wait to start planting things, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Just because we have two or threes week of warm weather and spring has supposedly finally arrived it does not by any means mean it is time to get our hands dirty in the garden. THE SOIL TEMPERATURE IS MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE AIR TEMPERATURE at this point in time. Most of our spring and summer crops require warm soils to germinate from seeds or to actually grow if they are transplants. Most need soil temps of at least 70F and the colder if not frozen it was, the longer it will take for the soil to warm up enough for seeds to germinate. Many if not most will rot and even if they do germinate the soil 2 or 3 inches deep will not allow for rapid root growth because it is still too cold. For transplants like peppers which are normally planted about 4-6 inches deep it is even colder that deep and they will be stunted if they survive at all. The same for tomatoes. It may not kill them but it will greatly slow their growth.. There are ways to warm up the soil such as black plastic but for most of us that is not an option and is the subject for another thread. The soil does not warm up quickly. I have found that investing in a GOOD soil thermometer will save you a lot of time, labor and money. There is nothing more discouraging than watching your seeds fail or your transplants just sit there. Planting at the proper soil temperature will alleviate this and give you a tremendous advantage in growing a successful garden.

Where did you source your soil thermometer?

on an aide, did you get your soil block maker? Mine saves me a lot of messing about.[/QUOTE]
IIRC I got the thermometer from www.zoro.com
Yep, I got the soil block maker. Haven't got to use it yet but I will in about 2 weeks if the long range weather forecasts look favorable.

 

[Idaho_Kev]

I've done some reading that black plastics aren't the best way to go. The sun warms the plastic, but very little is transfered into the soil. Just as an option if you want to plant earlier, I use individual plant protectors that I place over my plants. The plant protector acts as a miniature greenhouses that warms the soil and keeps the plant at optimal growing temperatures during the day and night. In my area, the safe planting season isn't until the end of May and have already started my cold hearty crops. I strongly recommend them to warm your garden's soil.

Here's a link describing a little more about them.
http://www.growitnowgarden.com/how-to-start-your-garden-earlier

 

[CanadianLori]

Thank you Chuck - great site- guess I'll be window shopping for awhile!

 

[Chuck]

Many of us will be planting seeds this spring. I thought I would post this soil temperature guide in hopes that it will be beneficial.

 

[headfullofbees]

You can amend your soil temperature by burying material, which will decompose, below the level of your plants; the resulting heat rising.

 

[tomastomato]

I've done some reading that black plastics aren't the best way to go. The sun warms the plastic, but very little is transfered into the soil. Just as an option if you want to plant earlier, I use individual plant protectors that I place over my plants. The plant protector acts as a miniature greenhouses that warms the soil and keeps the plant at optimal growing temperatures during the day and night. In my area, the safe planting season isn't until the end of May and have already started my cold hearty crops. I strongly recommend them to warm your garden's soil.

Here's a link describing a little more about them.
http://www.growitnowgarden.com/how-to-start-your-garden-earlier

Thats a good tip. In Sweden when you can expect snow until mid May this is great. Especially for us who are dealing with a lot home gardening of vegetables on roof tops. By utilizing this we can definitely start in late March when the soil is not frozen anymore. However I think creating the houses can be done by myself and a sturdy scissor.

 

[Pat]

It will be awhile before my soil is warm enough to plant. I am also considering using plant protectors and containers this year. We have more snow coming and ice is till on the ground, no telling when we will get warm enough to start on the yard, it may not be before April rolls in. I looked at two containers that need to be trashed but they are frozen.

 

[Chuck]

Here are the MINIMUM soil temperature requirements for most of our vegetable transplants

 

[FountainMan]

I have temperature and moisture probes at 6 and 18" deep part of a Davis Vantage Pro2 weather station connected to a logging computer.

I don't plant until the soil temperature at 6" is at or above 60°F for 2 consecutive weeks. Most vegetables prefer 70° but can tolerate 60°. What I do is place black plastic over the garden. The black plastic absorbs the heat from the sun and effectively expedites the warming.

 

[rosiecotton19]

this may be a stupid question, but how do you take the temperature of your soil? I really don't want to spend yet more money on my garden- can I use a medical thermometer? Also, I have relatively small beds (about 3.5" x 10"). Could I use the black plastic trick? It's supposed to be rainy here in the next couple weeks, if I do the plastic should I put holes in it so the water can get in? thanks!

 

[FountainMan]

this may be a stupid question, but how do you take the temperature of your soil? I really don't want to spend yet more money on my garden- can I use a medical thermometer? Also, I have relatively small beds (about 3.5" x 10"). Could I use the black plastic trick? It's supposed to be rainy here in the next couple weeks, if I do the plastic should I put holes in it so the water can get in? thanks!

Not stupid. I measure my soil temperature with stainless steel probes connected to a soil and leaf monitoring station on a larger weather station.

You can find cheap wireless temperature sensors at Wal-Mart for less than 20$. Use a pencil to poke a hole in the soil then stick the probe in and mount the transmitter unit. Most kits also provide the high and low temperatures.

 

[FountainMan]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000E...70&keywords=wireless+temperature+sensor+probe

Here's a cheaper kit. Gives the maximum and minimum temperature. You can link 3 wireless sensors if you want to monitor temperature in different locations or at different depths.

 

[rosiecotton19]

Thanks y'all. I ended up buying an instrument off Amazon for $23 or so that takes soil temperature, pH, moisture level, and measures quality of sunlight. I just got it in the mail yesterday and can't wait to try it out tonight. Whatever it says will determine if I go ahead and buy plants and put them in the ground this weekend.