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Soil temperature holds the key to spring gardening

Soil temperature acts as the primary guide for spring gardening, proving more reliable than air temperature alone. Relying on warm, sunny days can lure gardeners into false starts, leaving crops exposed to early frost.
Cool-Season crops sprout in soil temperatures between 40 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit. These hardy plants are typically the first ones gardeners can safely plant, often in April.
Beans and other warmth-loving crops require soil exceeding 55 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit, while tomatoes prefer even warmer conditions. Planting in cold soil can permanently stunt root development or cause seeds to rot.
Crabgrass begins germinating when spring soil approaches 50 degrees, requiring gardeners to apply crabgrass-preventing products before this threshold to effectively kill the weedy grass as it sprouts.
Gardeners can monitor soil conditions using thermometers or the North Dakota Agricultural Weather Network tool. For warmth-loving crops, clear plastic mulch raises soil temperatures and accelerates growth, based on North Dakota State University research.

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Soil temperature holds the key to spring gardening

Do you know what the limestone said to the geologist? Please don’t take me for granite. Luckily, most of our garden soils aren’t that rocky. Soil and gardening go together like a hand in a leather pruning glove, and nothing is more important to spring gardening than the temperature of our soil. Warm, sunny days in early spring are encouraging after a long winter, but Mother Nature still holds the cards, and I don’t trust her. Gardeners have been…

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