Soil Temperature

Sowed some beans and melons and got really poor germination. Seeds were for 2022 which is a little old but not that old. Checked my soil temps yesterday. At 6am, 2 inches down, 77 degrees. At 3pm, 2 inches down in bare soil, 98 degrees. In the shade of tomato plants and under a pile of leaves, 86 degrees.

My germination temp charts don’t even bother giving a germination time for temps over 95. I mulched the beds with hay yesterday and am reseeding the bean/melon this morning and will see what happens.