Soil Temperature Basics: What's the Best for Transplanting Vegetable Starts & Seedlings?

Check the soil temperature before you transplant your vegetable seedlings and starts. Vegetables need specific soil temperatures to grow properly, as Tricia mentions in our video on Planting Vegetables.
Simply push either thermometer a few inches into the soil, and wait about a minute until the reading is stable. Keep an eye on the weather forecast too. Remember, you want the soil to be at the most conducive temperature and have a good chance of maintaining that temperature. You can control the soil temperature to some extent -- tips for that below.
Another excellent omnibus book for vegetable gardeners, The Vegetable Gardener's Bible, gives some general rules for optimal soil temperatures for transplanting: * 60º to 65ºF for cabbages and beans * below 75ºF for corn * 75ºF for peppers
How to Check Soil Temperatures

Determining Proper Soil Temperatures for Transplanting Seedlings
Vegetables can be baffling. Sometimes they need one soil temperature to germinate, and a different soil temperature to grow as plants. The seed packet will give you the soil temperature required for germination. When it's time to transplant the seedlings into your garden, look up the plant-growing temperature on vegetable charts.