Warming soil around plants with stones

[noisycrows]

Has anyone tried this? I heard about it somewhere but I can't think where, and I can't find much online.

I think the idea was to put stones/bricks etc around the base of plants, and they hold the heat a bit overnight. They also reflect heat up to the plant during the day. I might conduct an experiment with a few plants. Maybe some tomatoes, runner beans, artichokes.

[Jungle Jane]

I put large stones round the base of my fruit trees,helps shade the roots a bit & helps stop a couple of weeds too. My dad said to me years ago how well weeds grow between slabs in a patio,they have all their roots shaded. Tomato plants have some really shallow roots,it would help the soil stay a bit shaded from the sun.

[burnie]

Not something I have given much thought to, I do use stones as features and boundaries, not really noticed if they have any effect other than the slugs and snails can be found under them!!

[Nicos]

I've heard of them being used in Vineyards. Not sure if they are supposed to reflect the light/heat onto the Grapes or what.....

[peanut]

I get the logic but I think you'd need pretty big or lots of stones for them to make any significant difference heat wise. I'd be more concerned about them becoming just another hiding place for slugs 'n' bugs.
Be interesting to see how your experiment goes, good luck!

[nickdub]

Certainly putting large flat stones or paving slabs over roots of plants like clematis which like to have the soil around their roots cool and damp can help in the hot dry summers we seem to be getting more frequently these days.

[Plot70]

Sweet peppers like cool roots according to what I have been told.
The sun has been so strong that I have had to keep my newly planted jazzy pumpkins cool.
Big tanks of water have a good thermal mass and may help to keep the frost off anything close by.

[ameno]

Sweet peppers like cool roots according to what I have been told.

I'd be dubious about that, to be honest. Or rather, relatively speaking that may be true, but that's in the hot countries where they are normally grown outside. In this country, I doubt the soil will ever get warm enough to be problematic for them, and indeed growing them through black plastic (which warms the soil around 2 degrees) greatly increases the crop.

[noisycrows]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'll do a little experiment and if there's any difference I will report back in a few weeks!