Soil Temperature Readings

[Guy]

Sounds interesting Dave. Like you I always use warmed water. I find a huge water butt in the sun gets to about 35c on a summer day. I always refill it straight after so it has time to warm up before usage.

Soil warming is important. I made huge cloches to heat soil before planting veg and it's pretty easy with corrugated polycarb sheets. Just one sheet with 6 bamboo canes allows a significant area to be heated. Clear polythene with ridged soil to allow planting of low plants is also very warming. I've always found that direction of facing of a bed is vital and that drier soils warm up quicker in the spring. Polythene for a month before planting will warm the soil hugely and dry it out. Just a few rather random thoughts.