Knowing the pH and nutrient content of your soil is important to successful growing.

Soils & Climate

Soils

Soil Texture. This Soil Texture Fact Sheet discusses the four soil texture classifications of sands, silts, loams, and clays; how they combine to make textural classifications; how soil texture is determined; and the 5 soil management groups in New York State.

Soil Organic Matter. This Soil Organic Matter Fact Sheet describes types of organic matter in soil; their physical, chemical & biological benefits; farm practices that help maintain or increase soil organic matter levels; and the importance of continued monitoring of soil organic matter content.

The Cornell Soil Health website offers a variety of resources on soil testing and improvement.

Soil Testing. Visit our page on "How to take a soil sample" for testing and see what Soil Testing Services are offered by or through Cooperative Extension.

Climate

Growing Degree Days (GDD) are a measure of heat accumulation used by horticulturalists to predict the date that a flower will bloom or a crop reach maturity. Statistics for the Northeast are provided on this Cornell Atmospheric Sciences & Turf Team website.

Cornell Gardening page with information on average dates for last spring frost and first fall frost, US hardiness zone map, and microclimates.

Contact

Katie Gasior
Horticulture Subject Educator
kmg287@cornell.edu
(845) 292-6180 Ext. 123

Last updated May 8, 2025

Soils & Climate

Find Your Zone!

The 2012 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map helps gardeners and growers determine which plants are most likely to thrive at a location. For the first time, the map is available as an interactive GIS-based map, for which a broadband Internet connection is recommended. Users may also simply type in a ZIP Code and find the hardiness zone for that area.

Useful Links

Visit theNortheast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University.

NY State Freeze Dates

Visit the Almanac website for a chart of freeze dates in our area.

The USDA Web Soil Survey (WSS) provides soil data and information produced by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. Use their online tool to see soil type data over an aerial map of Tompkins County.