Soil Preparation and Analysis
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Subject: soil warming
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From
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Location
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Message
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Date Posted
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Farmer Ben |
Hinckley MN
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I'm curious as to what methods growers use to warm their soil in the spring. I make raised beds, build low tunnels with floating row cover, use gallon jugs of water, and soil heating cables. any other techniques out there?
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1/22/2012 6:13:07 PM
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shouck65 |
Mount Vision, NY
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I use black plastic mulch and hoop houses. I'm interested in other ways so I'm looking forward to getting some ideas from this post.
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1/22/2012 7:12:50 PM
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Bohica (Tom) |
Www.extremepumpkinstore.com
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Hoop houses, soil cables and heat lamps
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1/22/2012 9:55:31 PM
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Farmer Ben |
Hinckley MN
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does anyone use thermocube plugs to regulate the heat lamps?
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1/22/2012 11:20:16 PM
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Bohica (Tom) |
Www.extremepumpkinstore.com
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Ben, that is really cool! Never seen them before. usually when the temps are in the 40's or 50's at night in early spring, I have the lamps on all night, the temps near the seedling remain around 65-70° and the soil temps are 74°, they grow really well.
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1/23/2012 1:41:28 AM
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shouck65 |
Mount Vision, NY
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I used heat lamps on our nights that were below 45 degrees, which means most of them in May. I've used thermocubes with heat tapes for plumbing, but they are a little outside the range I'd feel safe with for early season pumpkins. Great idea otherwise.
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1/23/2012 6:16:49 AM
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VTSteve |
South Hero, VT
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Don Young puts mini greenhouses over his plants at night inside his regular greenhouses.
I may use electric heaters inside the greenhouses at nite this year, due to one plant getting a burnt leaf from a heat lamp last year.
I found out last year early heating of soil(early April) helps corn seed maggots change into flies faster.
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1/23/2012 7:49:58 PM
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Farmer Ben |
Hinckley MN
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I'm heating one of my berry greenhouses with kerosene ready heaters connected to Thermocubes. It is really more frost protection than anything else, but that is all the berries need. I will have 2 tables with garden transplants and pumpkin starts on heat mats or soil cables. I grow my pumpkins in 7 gallon grow bags to a larger size before transplanting. Planting a 3ft long vine in a plastic bag larger than a 5 gallon bucket is a bit tricky, though.
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3/10/2012 12:29:38 PM
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Total Posts: 8 |
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