[Market-farming] soil thermometers
Shawnee Flowerfarmer
farmingflowers at hotmail.com
Thu May 8 23:14:03 EDT 2008
> hey, Shawnee, I'm using one of those little Johnny's soil > thermometers this year and notice that sunlight affects it (the same > soil is 50 to 100 degrees, depending on where the sun is). One would > think that only the probe was picking up heat, but that's not the > case with these. Do you have a unit that is independent of sunlight > or do you have an easy work around in seedbeds? -Allan
I've used most types of soil thermometers over the years...and none of them have a very long life...get forgotten in a compost pile, broken in drawer over winter, left in a coat pocket and laundered and so on. A couple have gone to live in Mexico, I suspect. My favorite had a 15 inch long probe....great for checking a compost pile. (Students broke those three and they were godawful expensive too) I haven't noticed the effect that you describe, but I usually check several locations and depths until I get some consistent data to ponder. This season I bought digital soil thermometers...under protest, but the company I was ordering floating row cover from only carried digital and I wanted to piggyback the postage) I don't like it, but I am old school most likely-annoyed by electronics that might not be happy clunking around in my pockets with all the other stuff in there.
I use the thermometer to take me where my earthsuit can't go. (What's going on down there???) Sometimes it's just a reassurance or reinforces what I hope I know. For decades, I have starting planting the cold season crops when the first earthworm castings appear on the surface. This always works, but the soil thermometer verifies the voodoo. Shawnee, zone 5
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