Volunteer germination gives you a sense of what happened in the week or 2 before they break the surface, but it says nothing about what might happen in the next 2 weeks. As an example, fruit trees can blossom and look great, but then every bloom can be damaged by 1 night of cold air.

I have volunteers coming up also, but here in Tn. we've had 4 solid days of cold rain, and a cold front coming through. The sun is expected tomorrow, but over the next 3 days the weather will remain cool. As soon as nights look stable, I'll plant out. Could they survive now? Perhaps, but if I wait 3 - 4 days they won't just survive, but have a better chance to thrive.

Thanks for your comments. Gardengal48 I don't have any thermometers that I could take soil temp. But the garden bed is about a foot tall so I think that could help with warming the soil.

rgreen48, how would these temps look to you? Would you plant out?

@Hab looks great to me!

Not sure how accurate but this website indicates my soil temp is in the 40's Maybe the raised beds are causing the seeds to sprout because the soil temp is much warmer than the ground level soil temp.

Thanks for your help and ideas of what to research.

Enjoying the nice weather

Raised bed soil does heat up faster than inground soil - that's one of the advantages of gardening with raised beds..........it extends the growing season on both sides!! With those temperatures occurring consistently (and that's the kicker!) I wouldn't hesitate to plant out.

btw, soil or compost thermometers are pretty common at most good garden centers. Even the home improvement stores should sell them. Knowing soil temperatures is a pretty useful gardening tool.

I was just checking my soil temperatures, I am at 55-60F at 4" and 65-70F at 1".

That chart is wrong :P

Right gardengal48, I will have to make that investment. Good to know Peter that the chart is wrong in your case. I think a soil thermometer is definitely needed. Thanks all!

If it threatens to turn cold (below 55) later - which seems fairly likely in USDA 6/7 - then put shelters over the plants at that time. Before the cold temperatures come. Out here, where we do not have 90 degree summer nights some enthusiasts grow tomato plants under cover the whole summer. And we are USDA 8 yet Extension has a history of telling us to wait until June to set out tomato plants.

Cultivated soil, which is more permeable to air than uncultivated soil, is always warmer. Moist soil is also warmer, because it conducts heat better.

USDA zones don't tell you about summer weather or when to plant out in the spring. They are just about how cold it gets in the winter and, formally, are really only relevant to perennials. Here in Texas, I'm also in zone 8, but I can put my plants out in March.

Shelters over tomatoes below 55F? Nah. Tomatoes do fine in temperatures in the low 40s. They don't grow, but they survive handily. I do it all the time.

I agree shelters are unnecessary unless temps threaten to drop into the low 40's and below.

Hard to believe there is a USDA zone 8 where it isn't safe to plant until June. Where are you located?

If it were me, and my seedlings were getting a bit root bound, looking at that weather report I'd plant out Tues. or wed. If they are not root bound, then definitely Wed. That 52 for next week could easily be higher by that night comes. If the temps drop, unless you have an incredible number of transplants, you could always rig a cover. But even if you get a cold snap, this next week looks good enough for your plants to get over any transplant shock, establish, and do just fine. I mean,,, you never know, but I think the consensus is... we'd pretty much all go for it. The probability looks in your favor.

ETA... and watch that rain... if you have a tarp, cover the soil to keep it dry. Transplanting in mud is rarely a good idea. But I suppose it depends on your raised bed soil.

ETA to the ETA... assuming they're hardened off of course.

habjolokia, If you have other kinds of thermometers, you likely can take a soil temperature. I've used kitchen thermometers that you would stick into meat to check the temp. Works fine as long as it registers that low and many of them do. You can even stick a cheap air thermometer into the soil...just leave it there longer to get the reading. Just don't use one from the kitchen if you have family members who are grossed out by that. It's much better to keep peace and go buy a different one to use in the soil. And I wouldn't try using a phone temperature app either LOL No buried phones, please.

We have beautiful weather this weekend. I planted presprouted peas yesterday and cleaned up some areas so they are will be ready for later plantings. Also planted out lettuce transplants earlier in the week. Cut a couple of spears of asparagus and harvested a little rhubarb. It feels like the outdoor garden season is started!

Hi habjolokia, I live in a zone 7ish too and my local forecast is similar as above. I planted about half of my plants before this rain hit (15), thankfully just 2" max rain is expected here. Being tempted too early to plant is hard to resist when it's been in the 80s. Rolling the dice to get an early mater is worth it me thinks, just plant extra seedlings early on as insurance if a late frost, prolonged 40's, or a flood hits. I give away about 20 plants on a good gamble year. Hope we're all winners ;)

That map doesn't seem right. My soil temps are around 60 five inches down, in central MD.