Q. You suggested buying a waterproof, battery-operated
recording maximum minimum thermometer for about $15. I’m having trouble
locating what you’re talking about.
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| Taylor instruments recording maximum and minimum thermometer. |
A. I suggested buying a recording maximum/minimum
thermometer and placing it in your gardening area so that you could track
temperatures during the late summer, fall, winter and spring. This thermometer,
combined with a weather app on your phone, makes a powerful and inexpensive combination
that predicts the future weather and weather that already passed. Use this
information to determine tree fruit losses and the best time to prepare the
soil for planting either cool or warm season vegetables.
Placing
it as close as possible to the gardening area helps you decide the low temperatures
you received during the night. Watching these low temperatures tells you how
cold your microclimate got in your backyard so you can accurately compare yours
to other microclimates.
Look for
manufacturers with well-known names in the weather or instrument categories such
as Taylor and AcuRite. Make sure the thermometer records minimum and maximum
temperatures over a time period such as 10 days. Accuweather and the National Weather Service are popular phone apps.