Haha - I was out (and then “out” with an early crash to bed) yesterday afternoon & evening. Now I’m up, way too early...
So, Pollard has beaten me to it and covered the irrigation temperature issue pretty well. (There’s a pun in there somewhere!) I do avoid watering from a “hot hose” (run until lukewarm) this time of year. We get some really cold downbursts in t’storms sometimes, but generally I’m more worried about the storm itself, or, really cold precipitation. (Hail!)
I save rainwater when practical, but, I really need a dedicated setup and large barrels to do that effectively after the spigot turns off (usually in early July, for us.)
Poor germination, I suspect from uncontrolled soil temperature is my biggest problem. I have the damdest problems getting Opo (or snake gourds), for example, to germinate. When the soggy soils killed off all my Opo except one in a pot (doing well), I tried starting some more, but not one has germinated. Too warm for them now @ my upstairs “plants window”, I guess, even though it’s a “tropical” plant... The already in small starter pots tomatoes are mostly doing well though. (My determinate varieties usually fizzle out in August, so, I’m going to try planting some late to see if I get any harvest in Sept.)
I collect and use rainwater in the spring, but really need a dedicated setup and large barrels to do that effectively, esp. after the spigot turns off - usually in early July, for us.
Of note / in the other direction: I’m convinced now that Roundup works much better with rainwater than our hard well water. Apparently, minerals in the well water tend to neutralize glyphosate-based herbicides.
All I did was ask AI but the answer was fuzzy on details and I didn’t click on any of the source links. I’m wondering about growing under black plastic mulch which has to bake the soil. I guess that’s why they use white plastic mulch sometimes and in the odd case of strawberries(I think), they prefer red plastic mulch.
Has to have an affect on soil microbes but with compost, they get really active and create that heat on their own but that’s a different set of microbes.
Grow maters under black plastic mulch but worry about irrigating with black plastic drip line exposed to sun because of heat? Contradiction.
Looked over the links and it depends. Study on direct sown soybeans using different irrigation techniques said drip allowed the soil to stay warmer and germination was faster and sprouts were bigger.
Rice can be damaged from cold water.
Study on greenhouse veggies says 68-71.6 degrees is ideal for growth stage of veggies. Quite specific yet didn’t mention what veggies. It’s standard practice to turn off the heat mat after germination so cooler growing temps than germination temp is a known thing.
In nature, everything seems to manage and a rain can really cool off the soil and full sun on clear hot day vs cool dark nights makes a big swing. In nature, the soil generally stays covered with something. Either live plants or leaves/litter.
At 6am my garden soil at 2 inches was 77 degrees and 3pm it was 98 degrees which seems a bit hot and a big swing. Now that I mulched with light colored hay, I’m sure the daytime soil temp will drop into the 80s. Might have an effect on night time temps within a couple of days as the thermal mass cools. My tatsoi and celery have light spots on their leaves that showed up when these 90+ degree days showed up. Will see if that goes away with cooler soil.
They say pull back the mulch in Spring to allow the soil to warm up so direct sun on bare soil is known for warming the soil. Some people put a black tarp over beds in the Spring to warm the soil up. Everyone turns the heat mats off after germination so cooler soil for growth is known.
So for me, I think I could have mulched a little earlier to avoid the near 100 degree temp and that includes mulching the drip lines. Come Fall when it gets cold, swap out the hay mulch for dark compost mulch until the following May or June.
My gut tells me 60 to 80s is good but it depends on crop. Peas to watermelon - 60 to 80s. I think of 90 degree soil with 60 a degree fast heavy watering like running out of hot water in the shower. Bit of a shock. Not worried about it for drip though.
Once I have all four IBC tanks that will mostly get filled with rain water, things will change. That and with cold temps, I’ll end up with 40 degree tank water at some point and then have to worry about it freezing soon after. Irrigate with 36 degree water? yikes. Do I need cold weather tanks painted black? Swap my white gutters for black gutters to melt ice/snow? Thought about a tank or two inside the tunnel for winter.
Meanwhile, it’s light out so I’m going to go re-sow those bean/melon seeds and see what happens with soil that’s mid 80s instead of high 90s. Not going to pre-soak as I read an extension article that said not to and I know those beds are moist all the time with the intermittent drip schedule I have going.