Pro tip: check your cooler's temp sensor after that crazy hot week in Phoenix

Lost about $400 in wilting peonies and lisianthus because my backup unit's sensor was off by 10 degrees, so what's your go-to method for a quick temp check during a heat wave?

3 comments

3 Comments

lunag301mo ago

That Phoenix heat is no joke, I lost a whole flat of snapdragons last July to a similar sensor fail. Now I keep a cheap analog thermometer right on the middle shelf as a reality check. I compare it to the digital readout every morning when I water. It's saved my geraniums more than once.

ellis.susan1mo ago

My basil plants all died before I tried @lunag30's two-thermometer trick, now I swear by it.

martinez.kim1mo ago

Oh cool, so my backup cooler was basically running a "guess the temperature" game with my flowers and I was the only one who didn't know the rules. Ten degrees off? That's not a sensor, that's a liar with a battery. I had a similar issue with a cooler in Vegas last summer, only mine was reading 38 when it was actually 50 inside. My poor agapanthus looked like they'd been through a sauna. Now I just stick my hand in there and if it feels like opening an oven door, I know something's wrong. Science, baby.