I posted this in the soil building thread, but this is great video about the topic of leaves.

[URL="Everything You Know About Composting is Wrong: Mike McGrath at TEDxPhoenixville"]Everything You Know About Composting is Wrong: Mike McGrath at TEDxPhoenixville[/URL]

I think I will plant some tomatoes in March this year, looking at the long range forecast I am only seeing 2 days beyond March 6th forecasted to get near freezing. Since I have extras, If it freezes and they die then no biggie.

[QUOTE=BigVanVader;537866]I think I will plant some tomatoes in March this year, looking at the long range forecast I am only seeing 2 days beyond March 6th forecasted to get near freezing. Since I have extras, If it freezes and they die then no biggie.[/QUOTE]

Hope you are feeling better! Since you are in the upstate peach country, always keep in mind they usually get a late cold snap in late March or early April.

Planted in wow yesterday. 9 tomatoes. First time trying this.

We still have a while to wait here in southern Connecticut. Soil temperature is only at 40F

[QUOTE=cloz;539207]We still have a while to wait here in southern Connecticut. Soil temperature is only at 40F[/QUOTE]

Not for sure if it ever gets to 40 degrees where I live.:lol:

Worth

today hit 74, tomorrow 76, thurs almost 80.... god it is so tempting

[QUOTE=Jonnyhat;539681]today hit 74, tomorrow 76, thurs almost 80.... god it is so tempting[/QUOTE]
No matter how warm it is if you are putting the roots in an ice box they wont do anything.
Better to up size the container if you have good soil to plant in later.

Worth

pee...we are finally getting some weather here in SoCal! Of course, some folks are tired of the weather. They have had plenty of "weather" the last few months. Anyway, I read somewhere that nights below 50 degrees tends to stunt/delay growth of young plants. I am not smart enough to do the soil temp thing like worth is talkin' about. I think cold nights (below 50) can play right into the hand of cool soil temps though...huh?

[QUOTE=Ed of Somis;539694]pee...we are finally getting some weather here in SoCal! Of course, some folks are tired of the weather. They have had plenty of "weather" the last few months. Anyway, I read somewhere that nights below 50 degrees tends to stunt/delay growth of young plants. I am not smart enough to do the soil temp thing like worth is talkin' about. I think cold nights (below 50) can play right into the hand of cool soil temps though...huh?[/QUOTE]

It is just meat thermometers stuck in the soil.:lol:
Not all tomato varieties respond the same either.
Some sulk and some dont in cooler soils.
If you have enough warm and sunny days in the upper 70's the soil temps will stay in the 60's even if it gets below that with the air temps.
This is why I was getting up at sunrise to check soil temps and them again at noon.

Here is how it works at my house.
The plants in the morning will have a light green at the new growth area.
This is from growing at night with warm soil temps.
Then during the day the new growth gets a darker green due to the sun.
This process repeats itself every day.
If you dont see the new growth in the morning then you have a problem.
Soil temps or something else.

Worth

[QUOTE=Ed of Somis;539694]pee...we are finally getting some weather here in SoCal! Of course, some folks are tired of the weather. They have had plenty of "weather" the last few months. Anyway, I read somewhere that nights below 50 degrees tends to stunt/delay growth of young plants. I am not smart enough to do the soil temp thing like worth is talkin' about. I think cold nights (below 50) can play right into the hand of cool soil temps though...huh?[/QUOTE]

You don't have to worry about "weather", Ed.:cute:
Speaking of night lows, I can tell from my personal experience that tomato plants can withstand and survive night lows as low as 35F. I have not experimented below that.
Most important is the soil temperature where the roots are buried, that is about 8" below the surface. I start planting out whe it is ~55F.
Our night lows wont get up to 50F til sometime in July and by then I start harvesting.
Gardeneer

Yup, I said to hell with waiting for my cover crop to break down further, I just dug holes and planted last week. If I saw a big chunk of something I just pushed it aside and let it dry out on the surface. I will use it as mulch later. From now on I think I will only cut the cover crops and use as mulch, not turn it in. I will turn in the mulch at the end of the season. There is too little time to wait for it to decompose. However I will keep one bed open to turn it in, on a rotating basis each year.

I went out and measured the soil temp again after 3 weeks from measuring 40 degrees F. Black soil in direct sunlight measures 48F. So does the soil under 4" of leaves and in direct sunlight. I have a 3 gallon black container sitting on top of a black tarp in direct sunlight and it's soil temperature also measures 48F. The soil that has been covered by a black tarp for 3 weeks now also measures 48F. It seems you can't rush mother nature. And no my thermometer is not stuck at 48. I ran it up to 70 between each measure.

Cloz

[QUOTE=cloz;546675]I went out and measured the soil temp again after 3 weeks from measuring 40 degrees F. Black soil in direct sunlight measures 48F. So does the soil under 4" of leaves and in direct sunlight. I have a 3 gallon black container sitting on top of a black tarp in direct sunlight and it's soil temperature also measures 48F. The soil that has been covered by a black tarp for 3 weeks now also measures 48F. It seems you can't rush mother nature. And no my thermometer is not stuck at 48. I ran it up to 70 between each measure.

Cloz[/QUOTE]

The tale of black mulch cooking roots in Texas sort of baffled me too.
I have seen some huge gardens here that were fantastic with the black breathable mulch on them.

I think some of this stuff gets started and passed around with no proof what so ever and becomes gospel.

Worth.