Pansies are blooming and very fun to see color. Hope you noticed the hours the next 2 weeks. Open during the week, and closed on the weekend. Easter this weekend, and having family and church activities. The next week will need some more time at home before I open up full time and then it is every day till the end of June. So what I am saying, come during the week. I have seed potatoes, onion sets, bulk vegetable seeds, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, brussels sprouts are doing well. They are on the tall carts outside so getting harden off for you.
I don’t know what the soil temperature is but here what is should be for successful planting.
Potatoes are a cool-weather crop and a staple of many people’s diets. Although potatoes serve a wide range of uses in the kitchen, there is an ideal temperature range for growing them, and extreme cold or heat will lead to poor growth or small tubers.
So, what is the best temperature for growing potatoes? The ideal soil temperature range for planting potatoes is 45 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit (7 to 10 degrees Celsius). After planting, the ideal temperature for growing potatoes is 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit (16 to 21 degrees Celsius).
Of course, if the temperature is too high or too low, tubers will fail to form, or the plant’s growth will be stunted. Potatoes are a cool weather crop, but the leaves and shoots above ground cannot tolerate a hard frost.
What Is The Best Temperature For Growing Potatoes?
The best temperature for growing potatoes will depend on the growth stage. We’ll start with planting potatoes.
Ideal Soil Temperature for Planting Potatoes
The best soil temperature for planting potatoes is 45 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit (7 to 10 degrees Celsius).
The ideal temperature for planting sprouted potatoes (or pieces if you cut them up) is 45 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit (7 to 10 degrees Celsius).
To be on the safe side, the University of Maine suggests waiting until the soil warms to 50 degrees Fahrenheit (7 degrees Celsius) to plant potatoes.
Planting earlier in the season, when the soil is cooler, will leave more time for the plant to grow and for tubers to form.
This is especially important for late-season potato varieties, which take a longer time to develop. It is also important if you live in an area with a short growing season – in that case, you might want to choose early season potato varieties.
According to Cornell University Extension, 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius) is the minimum temperature for potatoes to sprout and germinate. However, the University of Idaho suggests that any temperature below 45 degrees Fahrenheit (7 degrees Celsius) slows wound healing in potato plants.
To get around this, you can sprout your potatoes indoors before cutting them into pieces. Then, wait for the cut potatoes to “heal” (form a harder layer) before planting them outdoors.
Ideal Soil Temperature for Growing Potatoes
The ideal soil temperature for growing potatoes is 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit (16 to 21 degrees Celsius). Potatoes are a cool weather crop, so they prefer cooler temperatures for growth and development of tubers.
Potato tubers form best in cooler soil at temperatures of 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit (16 to 21 degrees Celsius).
However, when soil temperatures stay low for a long time, the potato plant will grow more slowly both above ground and below ground. This means less green growth above ground and slower tuber formation underground.
Although their growth will slow, potato plants can survive cold, and they may tolerate a light frost. Even if a hard frost in the spring causes damage to your potato plants, all is not lost.
According to the Iowa State University Extension, new shoots will grow within 2 weeks to replace ones that are damaged by cold.
On the other hand, warm temperatures will also inhibit the growth of potato plants. At a temperature of 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius), fewer roots will grow, and tuber production will practically stop.
Taken from https://greenupside.com/what-is-the-best-temperature-for-growing-potatoes-3-tips
Here is a article about some other vegetables and the soil temperature for the best growing.
The ideal or optimal soil temperature for planting and growing most vegetables is 65° to 75°F. by Steve Albert
Soil temperature planting
The ideal or optimal soil temperature for planting and growing most vegetables is 65° to 75°F.
Vegetable seeds and seedlings require minimum soil temperatures to germinate and grow. Seeds and seedlings require optimal soil temperatures to thrive.
Soil temperature triggers not only seed germination but is an important factor in soil chemistry. Soil chemistry includes the release (dissolution) of mineral nutrients in soil moisture. Mineral nutrients are essential for vegetable plant growth and maturation to harvest.
The ideal or optimal soil temperature for planting and growing most vegetables is 65° to 75°F (18°-24°C).
Taking Soil Temperature
Soil temperature can be measured with a soil thermometer or gauge. Most home vegetable gardeners use a soil thermometer—a thermometer attached to a metal probe several inches long which is inserted into the soil.
The soil temperature for seed sowing should be taken between 1 and 3 inches deep. The soil temperature for transplants should be taken at 4 to 6 inches deep.
Commonly the temperature reading is taken after the thermometer has been in the soil for a couple of minutes.
Soil temperature is best taken in the early morning when the soil is coolest and not yet warmed under the day’s sun.
Take the soil temperature for at least three consecutive days and then average the results. Don’t depend on just one reading.
Planting and Soil Temperature
Vegetable seeds can be sown in the garden early in spring before the soil has warmed to optimal germination temperatures. If you sow early before temperatures are ideal, you cannot expect optimal germination.
Optimal germination and growing temperatures may not come until late spring or early summer. In regions where the growing season is short, waiting for optimal soil temperatures may not be practical or realistic. A 70 percent germination rate is often considered both practical and realistic.
You can use the minimum soil temperature for germination and the optima soil temperature for germination to decide at about what soil temperature you want to get started sowing seeds and setting out transplants.
Minimum Soil Temperatures for Seed Sowing and Germination:
35°F: lettuce, onion, parsnip, spinach.
40°F: beet, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, collards, Asian greens, Chinese cabbage, fava beans, kale, kohlrabi, mustard, arugula, radish, Swiss chard, turnip, pea, radish, rutabaga.
50°F: asparagus, celery, celeriac, corn, tomato.
60°F: bean, cucumber, eggplant, muskmelon, pepper, pumpkin, squash, watermelon.
Soil Temperature Needed for 70% Germination:
45°F: beets, lettuce, parsley, spinach.
50°F: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, collards, Asian greens, Chinese cabbage, fava beans, kale, kohlrabi, mustard, arugula, radish, Swiss chard, turnip, pea, radish, rutabaga.
55°F: cabbage, corn, Swiss chard, tomatoes.
65°F: cucumbers, peppers.
70°F: beans, cantaloupe, melons, squash.
75°F: eggplant, okra, pumpkins.
Optimal Soil Temperature for Germination (near 100% germination):
65°F: parsnip.
70°F: spinach.
75°F: asparagus, lettuce, onion, parsley.
80°F: bean, carrot.
85°F: beet, cabbage, eggplant, pepper, radish, Swiss chard, tomato, turnip.
90°F: muskmelon.
95°F: corn, cucumber, pumpkin, squash, watermelon.
Workable Soil Test for Direct Seed Sowing and Transplants:
Before soil thermometers were used in gardens and farms, the common method of determining when to plant was soil workability. (This is the tried-and-true old fashioned way to know when to plant.)
The soil is workable and ready for seed sowing or planting if it passes the Workable Soil Test. Here’s the test: squeeze a handful of soil in the palm of your hand; when you open your hand if the soil remains a wet or very moist clump, it is not workable. Let the soil dry. If the soil crumbles from your hand with a touch, it is workable.
When the soil is workable in spring, you can:
Direct sow: collards, kale, lettuce, parsnip, peas, radish, rutabaga, spinach, turnips.
Transplant out: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, onion.
Of course, once the soil is workable in spring, it will continue to warm. Often, old-time farmers would look to lilacs and other spring flowering plants to decide when to plan.
Taken from https://harvesttotable.com/vegetable-planting-and-soil-temperature
Till next time this is Becky Litterer, Becky’s Greenhouse, Dougherty Iowa beckmall@netins.net 641-794-3337 cell 641-903-9365