From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Midway, UT

Looking for a good scientific answers on this one. Tonight the pumpkin patch is forecasted to hit 36 degrees. Hoping that the +/- isn't 4 degrees or more on that, but that is a different conversation. It brought up the thought of how temperature effects growth. I realize that cold temperatures slows down biological activity in the soil, which would effect nutrient uptake, but how else does temperature affect growth? If you have soil heating cables and it is 36 degrees outside and sunny, but the soil is still at 70 degrees, I wouldn't expect growth to remain the same as an 84 degree day, but what other things are getting affected in the plant by the temperature?

6/13/2017 1:44:27 PM

Eddyz@efirehose.net

Your ambient air temp needs to be at about 55 degrees or your plant shuts down with anything below that. Takes the sun till noon to get it back into growing again. Been there done that with warm soil but the plant needs to stay warm too.

6/13/2017 3:35:07 PM

Little-TON - Colorado

Right on, well said

6/13/2017 3:59:35 PM

Alex, IN

I agree with Eddy, the minimum development temperature for cucurbits is 54 degrees F. That is the temperature of any tissue, below this point zero growth processes occur.

6/13/2017 4:06:29 PM

Woodward, Oklahoma

Tonight's low is 78 don't have tha problem.

6/13/2017 5:23:37 PM

Whitehall Montana

I have had 2 nights this week into mid 30s and today we were in the 50s.We had snow down to 5500 ft level but they say warming back up to 70 in the next couple days,welcome to Montana folks

6/13/2017 9:22:16 PM

JACKSON, WISCONSIN. ; )

I read an article in maximum yield magazine about air temp vrs leaf temp check it out I think it had been geared towards an indoor grow but you might find it useful

6/14/2017 5:46:41 AM

Eastern Pennsylvania

Not being a farmer I never heard of maximum yield magazine before. It sounds like pornography to me.

6/14/2017 8:10:12 AM

Midway, UT

Thanks. Good info. Anyone know why things stop under 54 degrees? Sometimes there are some real nuggets in those kinds of answers because you know what you have to manipulate to get different results.

6/14/2017 5:47:51 PM

Pennsylvania

Mine were slow so far this year we would have 1 day of 75 then 4-5 days of highs in the 50's and lows in the 40's for almost a month we have finally got more summer like temps and they are doing what they are supposed to do

6/18/2017 7:40:37 PM

Stanwood, Washington

I don't know anything about the science but on my little island we are in the 40s pretty much every night in April and May. The hoop houses keep the air warmer by day but at night it is still cold even in the hoop houses and I still get plant growth. I have found that soil temp is a really big deal though. The plants with heating cables out pace those without dtamatically. Even though the air temp in the hoop houses is pretty much the same.

6/25/2017 2:43:16 AM

Owensboro, Ky.

Cap 97...hard to understand why air temp in hoops w/& w/out heating cables are the same? Doesn't the warmer soil help heat the air inside the hoops? Peace, Wayne

6/26/2017 12:29:26 AM