As bright as any indoor grow lights might be, none compare to direct sunlight. Pick a calm day when the temperatures are close to those in the seedling’s current environment. Hardening Off Seedlings. If your seedlings show signs of wilting, give them a light sprinkle of water. toughening them up by thickening the cuticle on the leaves so they lose less water when exposed to the elements. they need a bit of loving care, also called hardening off. Take them outdoors to a shaded place for an hour or so. This process is called ‘hardening off.’ You need to complete it gradually to give your seedlings the chance to get used to their strange new environment. Start by placing them where they will receive indirect light such as in a greenhouse or under a porch or eave. Hardening Off Your Plants. Your plants have … Once the overnight temps are above 50 degrees you could leave them outside. Put them on a table or somewhere animals cannot reach them. About a week before your seedlings will go outside, suspend any supplemental... 3. It’s called hardening off, but it should happen gently. During this time, your plants are getting thicker and sturdier, better able to adapt to summertime extremes. Over time, you gradually lengthen the time that you leave them out. If it’s a particularly sunny day, they should sit in the shade at first. Seedlings raised indoors are used to easy conditions, so they need a gradual transition to the outdoors. Get expert articles delivered straight to your inbox! Place seedlings and plants into the structure for a couple of hours on the first day, then gradually increase the length of time they are in place by two or more hours per day. After that simply open the top for more time each day. And once you’ve successfully transplanted those seedlings, you’ll feel a little glow on your green thumb. Transitioning seedlings from growing inside to … Too much sun can stress them even more. Hardening off plants is the processes of conditioning them to a new environment. Hardening off is the process of preparing seedlings to be planted outside. If possible, set them in partial shade where they are protected from the wind. Too much sun too fast will burn the leaves in just a couple of hours. Anxious to kick my gardening into high Check your seedlings’ frost dates. Wind, cold or hot temperatures and sun scalding are all potential threats that can shock or even kill your baby seedlings. Planting in the Garden Walk the perimeter to make sure material is secured. Hardening off is the process of gradually getting your plants ready for a more difficult outdoor environment. This helps reduce stress and encourage success once they go outside. At the end of the first day’s hardening off time, put your seedlings back inside. So what exactly is hardening off, and why is it so important? Hardening off seedlings helps to ensure they make a smooth, successful transition to their new home – your garden! Ideally, this process takes one to two weeks, and it involves taking your plants outside for a few hours each day. The true joy of starting your own seeds comes when you can finally transplant those flowers, vegetables, and plants into the garden. Choose your first hardening off spot. This post will discuss what hardening off is, why it is important, and how to do it. https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/ho/ho-203.html. Successfully Hardening Off Seedlings isn’t hard but it is an important step in gardening. Hardening is the process of exposing transplants (seedlings) gradually to outdoor conditions. How to Harden Off Plants. It is the process of gradually introducing seedlings started indoors to the much harsher conditions of the garden outside. I would recommend that you watch closely to make sure your seedlings are getting enough water while you are hardening off. University of Maryland Extension, Marie Iannotti is an author, photographer, and speaker with 27 years of experience as a Cornell Cooperative Extension Horticulture Educator and Master Gardener, The Spruce uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. When choosing an area to set them out, it would be best to carry out the process in a sheltered location that will be easy to move your plants from shade to sun, and blocked from high winds. While hardening off doesn’t take a lot of time, it does involve some vigilance. How to Harden Off Your Vegetable Seedlings A week or so prior to moving your seedlings to the garden, set them outside on any warm day. Seedlings should have at least two sets of leaves before hardening off. 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