So how big should seedlings get before you decide to harden them off? While you can move your seedlings in the ground at any stage, most seedlings have an ideal transplanting window you should be aware of: Hardening off your young plants is the only way you can protect them from sunburn (leaves become pale and light yellow), or transplant shock (seedlings look droopy and wilted for a few days). New growth on hardened off plants looks quite different, too – leaves take on a leathery, waxy texture and are much darker in color.
#Hardening off seedlings full
No matter how healthy and vibrant your seedlings look indoors or in the greenhouse, they still haven’t experienced the full strength of the sun and need to develop a protective cuticle to survive it. The simple answer is: while some of your seedlings will do just fine when you move them from indoors straight into the ground (particularly early spring crops), their growth will become seriously stunted from the shock, and some of them might even die. Do you really need to harden off seedlings?īefore we even get started, you’re probably wondering – do you really need to go through all this hassle?
#Hardening off seedlings how to
You can find complex schedules to teach you how to do this – but let’s face it – moving dozens of trays and pots twice a day can get really tedious.įortunately, there’s an easier approach that many gardeners use, including me: the “lazy” hardening off method, and this article will teach you how to “cheat” and get your plants in the ground in half the time and effort. Traditionally, hardening off seedlings involves moving them outside, then back inside for 7 to 14 days, for incrementally longer periods. Seedlings need to be gradually accustomed to the sun so that they don’t suffer from sunburn or transplant shock.
So what is hardening off? Put simply, your young plants need to develop a “thicker skin” so they can withstand radiation from the sun, stronger winds, and varying temperatures. But we can’t just move our baby plants out in the elements and call it a day – they need to go through a process called “hardening off” first. As an Amazon Associate earns from qualifying purchases.Īfter weeks, even months, of nurturing and caring for seedlings (either indoors or in a greenhouse), there’s nothing more satisfying than seeing them finally planted in the garden.
0 kommentar(er)
