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Oz

soil temp,,,
what is the "window of growth" of AG roots?(soil temp)
The plant?
Fruit?

would a warm drink,for the AG,,(what temp?)
be better than a cool drink,for the AG,,
when things head for Fall?

4/13/2005 8:31:55 AM

Montoursville, PA

All of the time....reguardless of season water should be added at the temperature of your soil, in your patch.

Temperature swings cause stress. You can not change the temperature, of the soil mass, without major and professionally engineered underground radiant heating techniques. This would be very costly to install and operate....although I know, of one person, that is considering doing just this. I won't tell until he does!

4/13/2005 11:07:20 AM

Puyallup, WA

I have not seen any damage by adding 80° water. Many growers have water heating tanks(1000-1500 gallon) to warm their water.

4/13/2005 3:18:21 PM

Follansbee, Wv

"All of the time....reguardless of season water should be added at the temperature of your soil, in your patch." - Docgipe

Rainfall can often times be as much as 20°F cooler than soil temps. Soil temprature is generally adequate to bring the water temp to acceptable levels by the time it reaches the roots. Consider a soil temp of 85°F, would you then heat your water to 85°? Of course not. To do so would be a foolish waste of time (and money if heated artificially). Consider the mass of the soil as compared to the mass of the water. Which is greater? I submit that the temp of the water makes no difference as long as it is within a reasonable range of the soil temp, say within 20°. Personally, I would air on the side of caution and use cooler water, rather than warmer water.

4/13/2005 4:18:34 PM

[email protected]

I'm going to start our main plant inide our convertible greenhouse again this year after taking that soil off last year. On sunny days the temps inside the greenhouse rise above 100°F but a thermostatically controlled ventilation fan keeps it at 95° this time of year. It has also been heated at night in an effort to get the soil temperature to 80°F by planting time. It's at 70°F right now even down to 6" deep. Our city tap water is running <50°F right now since it is piped under the streets where the underlying soil temperature is still pretty low. Thus keeping the soil moisture correct must have a temperature lowering effect I would NOT want to force onto a seedling. So the 330 gallon rainwater collection system will be utilized for a while just after planting out in May. By June I don't believe it would make much difference any more.

4/13/2005 9:20:10 PM

Follansbee, Wv

In that circumstance Steve, I have to agree. Allowing the water to warm a bit may indeed be best. But even in your situation, you see that the water temp is not within a "reasonable" range of the soil temp. Once soil temp reaches growing levels naturally, water temp should have little affect (unless of course it's unreasonably cool, such as 45° well water or something).

4/15/2005 4:26:35 PM