![]() Keep them in a shaded spot the entire time they are outside today. On the first day, they should be protected from any wind or strong breeze. Check your plants and know that you may need to water them twice or even three times a day, particularly on windy, hot, and sunny days.ĭay 1: Put your plants outside for about two hours. The process starts with just an hour or two of exposure and then slowly builds up to full days and eventually overnights outside until by the end you do not need to bring your plants back inside at all (weather permitting).īe aware that plants will dry out quicker outside. The side of a building is a good choice-it will provide shade but also some warmth. Keep your plants shaded and out of direct sunlight for the first day. A weekend or days when you are home for most of the day will work best. In the best-case scenario, mid-morning will be best for a start. If mornings are not possible, late afternoon or early morning is a workable time to start the process. Mornings are good after a few hours of warm-up, but avoid the middle of the day when the sun is strongest (usually between 11 a.m. ![]() In the first days of the hardening process, try to avoid taking your plants outside in the heat of the day. The day should be rain-free (though an overcast day is a good day to start for sun protection). It is best to start hardening off plants on a day that is calm and as close to windless as you can manage. Not only should you plan according to your calendar, frost, and planting dates, but you should plan to start hardening according to the weather (to the best of your ability). The Right Day and TimeĪ cloudy or overcast day that is moderately warm is a good day to start the hardening off process. You just need to take care not to have your plants outside and unprotected on very cold days or when a frost might hit. That is all perfectly okay (and expected). The weather, nights especially, might still be a little cool and you might still get frosts overnight in the early days. Depending on your planned planting time, this typically means you will start hardening off plants a couple of weeks before your last frost date. This often means that you will be hardening off your plants before it is considered “safe” to plant them outside-before your last frost date and/or before soil temperatures have warmed. Plan hardening off within the time frame of your target planting date. In a pinch, the process can be condensed into a week to 10 days and in a real pinch, as few as three days, but the best results and easiest transition for your plants is to harden them off over the recommended 14-day period. Ideally, you should plan to start hardening off your plants about two weeks before you plan to plant them outside. What Plants Need to Be Hardened Off For Outdoor Planting?īegin hardening off your transplants two weeks before you plan to plant them outside. At worst, plants will die and you’ll need to start all over again with replacements. At best it’s a stress the plants don’t need and a sure way to slow and stunt growth. ![]() Without hardening off, transplants can suffer from sunburn, cold damage, drowning, wilting, and breakage. And so, indoors plants need to be taught to deal with them-to acclimate to these new, changing growing conditions, to get stronger so they can withstand those conditions. ![]() None of these are variations that plants deal with inside in their protected growing environment. Winds and rains come in all variations of volume and strength. Outdoors plants deal with rising and falling temperatures and can commonly experience a range of 20 or 30 degrees in a single day. The light outside is much stronger and more intense. Life indoors comes with none of the inconsistencies or fluctuations of Mother Nature. Life outside is anything but these things. ![]() It “rains” just enough, never too much moisture is always there when it is needed. The temperature is always the same and it is always optimal. Their environment has been nothing but stable. Plants that are started inside, whether in your home or in a greenhouse, have lived a protected life. Plants grown in protected environments like inside a house or greenhouse need to be hardened off before outside planting. ![]()
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