Soil temp at plant out

[duajones]

I have never really paid attention to soil temp here in South Texas as its always been fairly warm at plant out time. This year however it is cooler and wetter than it has been in the 3 yrs I have been planting in ground. Do any of you wait until the soil is a certain temperature before plantout? And if so, what temp do you look for? It looks like I may go in a little later than usual this year based on forecast

[Marko]

I allways measure soil temperature before planting. Tomato needs at least 15C/60F measured 10cm/4in deep. If your soil is colder cover it with clear plastic, that warms soil quite fast.

[duajones]

temp is currently 44 degrees 4 inches deep

[Blueaussi]

I take soil temperature, too. I want it to be at leat 60F 6 inches down before I'll plant out. Not only do tomato and pepper plants dislike having cold feet, if there is a late cold snap, the warm soil helps the plants handle the stress better.

[TomNJ]

I use the following rule of thumb for transplanting tomatoes outdoors:

Minimum night air temperature: 50°F (10°C)

Minimum soil temperature: 60°F (15°C)

Minimum afternoon air temperature: 70°F (21°C)

TomNJ

[duajones]

This time last year nighttime temps were in the 60's and daytime highs were already in the 80's. The next week the highs will be around 60 with lows in the 40's. I planted out on the 18th of February last year, this year its looking like the end of February

[amideutch]

This is what Benton Jones had to say in his book "Tomato Plant Culture: in the field, greenhouse, and Home Garden".

Transplants should not be placed in the soil unless the soil tempearture is above 60 deg. F (15.5 deg. C), although the tomato seedling will survive at lower soil temperatures. Tomato roots will not grow vigorously until soil temperature is 70 deg. f (21 deg. C) or higher. If air temperature drops below 43 deg. F (6 deg C), young seedlings should be covered. A home gardener friend circles water-filled 2-litre soda bottles around his new transplants to protect the seedlings from cool nighttime temperatures or a late frost. Using this technique, his tomato plants come into production 3 to 4 weeks earlier than those not protected. Ami

[dice]

From
http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?p=74850
(a thread on uses of a Crimson Clover cover crop):

Originally Posted by Gimme3

On a bed i intend to stick lettuce transplants into, i start high on the CC, because i want to chop the foilage up. I work down to the base, then, i rake that stuff up, throw it back on the bed, and either by light machine tillage or by hand garden fork, work it into the upper layer, about 2-4 inches deep. It will heat up the soil for a few days, jus like alfalfa, so...its a good way to raise soil temp a few degrees, and lettuces appreciate that in March/April, ...here .

So, you might incorporate some fresh grass clippings
or partially decayed compost or whatever into the top
few inches of the soil a week or so before transplant,
if the soil is dry enough to work, to add some heat of
decomposition to it.

Last year I had some black compost to spread a thin layer
of all over the beds before transplant. That soaked up heat
from the sun and helped warm up the beds.