How Temperature Affects Plants

Knowing is half the battle as the saying goes. This not only caters to battles but also to gardening as it involves knowing a lot about how plants react to certain factors in their environment. Researching on what particular temperature or seed to plant at a specific season requires research and patience. If you'd like to know how you can be a better gardener, then read on.

Have you ever planted flower seeds in your garden and then found out that the reason they wilt or don't grow as fast is because the temperature around them was wrong? Wouldn't it be easier of you knew how hot or cold it is in your garden before you planted them? Won't it be better if you planted the right flower seeds depending on your garden's temperature? You'll definitely be needing an outdoor thermometer.

Temperature has a big factor in plants producing the highest yield. For example, studies show that most plants give a high yield on temperatures from 59F to 77F. Almost anything above 85F will damage the plant; although this will depend highly on what type of plant you have. For example, some plants who thrive in the tropics would not do well in colder temperatures and vice versa.

There are a lot of factors to consider when talking about how temperature affects plants:

• Elevation: There is a 1 degree drop per 300 foot rise. So the higher the ground the plant is in the cooler it will be.


• Drainage: cool air goes down to the low spots at night.


• Exposure: the temperature will depend on where you and the plants live on. for examples, those who live in high level areas tend to have cooler climates and thus have shorter growing seasons.


• Season: Planting seeds on the wrong season will affect their growth. For example, broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower seeds grow better on the cool seasons. Tomatoes, peppers, squash, and melons on the other hand fare better during the warm seasons.

We emphasize that all this research and knowledge on how temperature affects plants will be for naught if you don't have one of the most important tools for the job: the outdoor thermometer.

We recommend buying one from Outdora.com where they offer classic looking outdoor thermometer and others that look a bit more modern.


Good luck on your planting, and remember there's no such thing as a green thumb, just someone who loves taking care of plants.