Soil temperature

**jimmy cee** 8/5/2016, 10:46 pm

I'm keeping a thermometer in the soil about 4 inches down under my tomato canopy.
It reads 72 in the morning and evening, during the heat of day it gets to 78.
These are premium temps for growing tomato's.

**sanderson** 8/6/2016, 3:57 am

I check the temp of the Mix in various beds in the spring to see when one is warm enough to plant the intended crop. I avoided dampening off of cucumbers, melons and winter squash seedling this year because I made sure the soil was warm enough. For this purpose, the short kitchen thermometer works fine. Just don't get caught.

newbeone 10/4/2016, 11:31 am

Still working on the Fall Garden started checking the soil temperature the later part of August it was hot 94 F that was before I started mulching, ( Thanks for the Help) now it's down to 77 F

OhioGardener 5/13/2020, 6:47 pm

Thought I would tag this onto an old thread about soil temperatures. One of the most common questions, or discussions about seeds not starting by gardening friends is regarding when it is warm enough to plant seeds. Most new gardeners do not realize that all seeds have a Thermal Dormancy coating which controls the temperature range at which they will germinate. If the soil is colder or hotter than the seed coating is programmed for, the seed will not germinate.

The University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources, has put together a nice chart in PDF format showing the Minimum, Optimum, and Maximum temperatures for germination of most popular vegetable seeds.

Soil Temperature Conditions for Vegetable Seed Germination

OhioGardener 5/14/2020, 5:26 pm

Went out and checked the soil temp in the beds, just before the rain started and washed me out of the garden. It is 68°F, so it won't be long before the green beans seeds can go in the garden - they like 70°F or above, so it is very close.

mollyhespra 5/14/2020, 8:44 pm

Very cool resource, thanks OG!

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Soil temperature

Soil temperature

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