Tips to kickstart your summer vegies

Summer vegetables, such as tomatoes, capsicum, chili, cucumber, eggplant, and basil all require warm soils of at least 15C to germinate and thrive.

Warming soil temperatures activate root growth and the uptake of moisture and nutrients. Soil temperature is very closely affected by air temperature. If you live in an area where soil temperatures are slow to rise, kick start your spring by sowing and growing these hot summer crops indoors or in a propagation kit.

Temperature affects a plant’s rate of growth, the higher the soil and air temperature above the minimum, the faster a plant will grow. The true growing season for a garden is the total number of consecutive days that the soil and air temperature are warm enough to grow plants - including germination, maturation, and ripening.

Vegetable seeds can be sown in the garden in early spring before the soil has warmed but you cannot expect optimal germination. In early spring, you need to grow your warm-season vegetables in a controlled environment indoors, ideally with a heat mat. Optimal germination and growing temperatures may not come until late spring or early summer.