GARDEN + GARDENING + GARDEN DESIGN + GARDENING TIPS & ADVICE

Now that the weather is finally starting to warm up, you may want to pay attention to your soil temperature.  Planting seeds too early in the spring when the soil is too cool will cause your seeds to not germinate properly.  If you plan on planting sweet corn this year, you’ll want to be sure that your soil temperature is consistently 55 degrees in the morning.  Sweet corn does not germinate well in cooler soils.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that air temperatures match soil temperatures.  Soil temperatures typically can lag up to 20 degrees lower than outside air temperatures.  Use a mercury thermometer to test soil temperatures, or wait until your local air temperatures are consistently hitting above 75 to 80 degrees.  For supersweet corn types you’ll want to wait until soil temperatures reach at least 70 degrees.

When planting your corn seeds, it’s best to plant the corn in side by side rows rather than spread out or in one long row – side by side planting allows for better pollination and protection from wind and elements.  Proper planing will produce strong, healthy corn stalks that enhance proper ear production.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, May 4th, 2006 at 2:25 pm and is filed under Gardening General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.