Premium Stainless Steel Soil Thermometer (6 in Stem, 3 in Dial) Review

Application window: Late February on the coast to mid-March in north Alabama — the earliest pre-emergent window of any state we cover

Application window: Largely beside the point: crabgrass and the summer annuals that drive pre-emergent programmes in the lower 48 are not the problem here, and a pre-emergent applied on a mainland schedule is money spent on an absent weed

Application window: Mid-February for summer weeds, and again late September for winter weeds germinating in the overseed

Application window: Early March in the south to early April in the Ozarks at soil 55°F

Application window: Mid-January (Los Angeles/San Diego) to late February (Sacramento/Bay Area) — before the last winter rains water it in for free

Application window: Late April to early May as soil reaches 55°F

Application window: Crabgrass pre-emergent as soil holds 55°F at 2 inches — mid-April along the shoreline, into early May in the hills; forsythia dropping its blooms is the local cue

Application window: Crabgrass pre-emergent as soil holds 55°F at 2 inches — typically mid-March in Sussex and late March to early April in New Castle County, with a second application six to nine weeks later because one pass does not cover a Delaware season

Application window: Early February (Orlando/Tampa) to early March (Panhandle); South FL applies year-round for tropical weeds

Application window: Mid-February (Savannah/South GA) to early March (Metro Atlanta), with a second application about eight weeks later — the state is long enough north to south that one date cannot serve it

Application window: There is no single spring flush to time against — warm-season weeds germinate through much of the year, so pre-emergent here is a repeated programme on label intervals rather than a February or March decision

Application window: Crabgrass pre-emergent as soil holds 55°F at 2 inches — usually April in the Treasure Valley, May in the north and at elevation. Cool-season turf here grows fastest when soil sits at 55 to 65°F, which is the same signal

Application window: Late March at the Ohio River confluence to late April in Chicagoland — the widest single-state spread in the Midwest, and the reason calendar-based advice fails here

Application window: April, on soil temperature — and Purdue's note is that any nitrogen in a pre-emergent product should be slow-release, capped at 0.75 lb per 1,000 sq ft

Application window: Mid-April to early May at soil 55°F — a narrow, late window compared with the states south of here

Application window: Crabgrass pre-emergent as soil holds 55°F at 2 inches — typically late March to mid-April moving northwest, with a second application six to eight weeks later in the wetter east

Application window: Mid-March in the Jackson Purchase to early April in the mountains at soil 55°F — and over Inner Bluegrass karst the barrier is worth splitting into two applications, because the ground drains faster than the label assumes

Application window: Late February to mid-March, before soil warms past 55°F — the earliest window of any state we cover

Application window: Crabgrass pre-emergent as soil holds 55°F at 2 inches — mid to late May on the southern coast, June inland; north of Bangor crabgrass pressure is often low enough that the honest answer is to skip it

Application window: Mid-March on the Eastern Shore to mid-April in the mountains — forsythia bloom is the traditional Maryland signal (soil 55°F)

Application window: Mid-April on the coast to early May in the Berkshires at soil 55°F — forsythia is the working signal here

Application window: Late April (Metro Detroit/South) to mid-May (Up North), as soil reaches 55°F

Application window: Mid-May, as soil warms — the season opens later here than anywhere else we cover

Application window: Late February on the coast to mid-March in the north

Application window: Late March in the Bootheel to mid-April along the Iowa line — soil 55°F moves south to north across about three weeks

Application window: Crabgrass pre-emergent as soil holds 55°F at 2 inches, which is generally May and can be late May at elevation — and crabgrass pressure in much of Montana is low enough that this is a decision rather than a default

Application window: Crabgrass pre-emergent as soil holds 55°F at 2 inches — usually late April in the south-east, into mid-May in the north and west

Application window: February in Las Vegas to April in the northern high desert

Application window: Crabgrass pre-emergent as soil holds 55°F at 2 inches — late April to early May on the Seacoast, and up to three weeks later in the north; crabgrass pressure itself falls off with elevation

Application window: Mid-April in the south to early May in the northwest, as soil reaches 55°F

Application window: Crabgrass and summer annual pre-emergent as soil holds 55°F at 2 inches — February to early March in the southern valleys, April to May in the north. The state spans two months on this decision

Application window: Mid-April (Long Island/NYC) extending into early May (Buffalo/Upstate), as soil reaches 55°F

Application window: Early to mid-March in the Piedmont, when soil temps approach 55°F — earlier along the coast

Application window: Crabgrass pre-emergent as soil holds 55°F at 2 inches, usually mid to late May — and crabgrass pressure here is genuinely lower than in the states to the south, so this is a decision rather than a routine

Application window: Late March along the Ohio River to late April in the Lake Erie snow belt at soil 55°F — a month of spread across one state

Application window: Early March in the south to early April in the panhandle at soil 55°F; on western sand, split the rate rather than trusting one pass to hold

Application window: Late February to March west of the Cascades — the earliest cool-season window anywhere, because the valley barely stops growing

Application window: Mid-April around Philadelphia to early May on the northern plateau at soil 55°F — three weeks of spread across fifty miles where the ridges rise, which is why a neighbour's timing is not yours

Application window: Crabgrass pre-emergent once soil holds 55°F at 2 inches — usually the second half of April on the bay and coastal towns, into early May inland

Application window: Early March on the coast to late March in the Upstate, before soil warms past 55°F

Application window: Crabgrass pre-emergent as soil holds 55°F at 2 inches, generally mid-May — and pressure is lower here than in the corn-belt states, so it is a judgement rather than an annual purchase

Application window: Early March in Memphis to late March in Knoxville — soil 55°F sweeps west to east

Application window: Mid-February (Houston/San Antonio) to mid-March (Dallas/Panhandle), soil temps 55°F for crabgrass

Application window: Late March to mid-April along the Wasatch Front at soil 55°F

Application window: Crabgrass pre-emergent as soil holds 55°F at 2 inches — usually mid-May in the Champlain Valley and later in the hills; in the coldest towns crabgrass pressure is low enough that the question is whether to bother

Application window: Early March (Hampton Roads/Tidewater) to late March/early April (Northern VA/Richmond), as soil reaches 55°F

Application window: Mid-April to early May as soil reaches 55°F; crabgrass pressure is low west of the Cascades, where annual bluegrass and moss matter more

Application window: Crabgrass pre-emergent as soil holds 55°F at 2 inches — typically late March to early April in the valleys, into late April at elevation, with a second application six to nine weeks later

Application window: Late April to mid-May, as soil temperatures reach near 60°F for several consecutive days — forsythia bloom is the usual reminder

Application window: Crabgrass pre-emergent as soil holds 55°F at 2 inches, generally May and later at elevation — pressure here is low enough that in much of the state this is a decision rather than an annual habit