I am in zone 6.
Is it time to plant any of the root crops?
What about peas?
Or will I just end up killing the seed/seedling?
Has anyone else planted outside?
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smokensqueal
- Green Thumb
- Posts: 392
- Joined: Thu Jun 26, 2008 1:36 pm
- Location: St. Louis, MO Metro area
I don't know the air temperatures for germination, but John Jeavons (How to Grow More Vegetables..., 7th ed.) presents a table on p. 80 named "Soil Temperature Conditions for Vegetable Seed Germination." He cites James Edward Knott, Handbook for Vegetable Growers (New York: John Wiley & Sons), 1957 as a source of information.
The Soil Temp / Germination table shows the name of the crop, the minimum temp, optimum range, optimum temp, and maximum temp for germination.
I don't know if you want merely "survival" of the seeds, or whether a good germination rate, followed by vegetative growth, is what you're after, but for beets, Jeavons gives the following:
Minimum: 40 deg F
Optimum Range: 50 - 85 deg F
Optimum Temp: 85 deg F
Maximum Temp: 95 deg F
Remember, these are soil temperatures, which change more slowly than air temperatures.
Parsnips and onions have slightly different preferences, according to the Soil Temp / Germination table.
Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9
The Soil Temp / Germination table shows the name of the crop, the minimum temp, optimum range, optimum temp, and maximum temp for germination.
I don't know if you want merely "survival" of the seeds, or whether a good germination rate, followed by vegetative growth, is what you're after, but for beets, Jeavons gives the following:
Minimum: 40 deg F
Optimum Range: 50 - 85 deg F
Optimum Temp: 85 deg F
Maximum Temp: 95 deg F
Remember, these are soil temperatures, which change more slowly than air temperatures.
Parsnips and onions have slightly different preferences, according to the Soil Temp / Germination table.
Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9
Zone 6a here.
We plant onion sets and potatoes on St Patrick's Day. We keep a close eye on the potatoes after they start to emerge as even a light frost will do them some harm. They will recover, but we try to prevent the damage by covering them.
It's usually during the first full week of May that we put the tomato and pepper plants out and protect them with walls-o-water.
We plant seeds such as corn, cucumbers, melons etc. during the last week of May.
We plant onion sets and potatoes on St Patrick's Day. We keep a close eye on the potatoes after they start to emerge as even a light frost will do them some harm. They will recover, but we try to prevent the damage by covering them.
It's usually during the first full week of May that we put the tomato and pepper plants out and protect them with walls-o-water.
We plant seeds such as corn, cucumbers, melons etc. during the last week of May.