• If you need help identifying a pepper, disease, or plant issue, please post in Identification.

Would you harden off on any of these days?

A

A Spicy English Cheapskate

Hello everyone. I was hoping to ask for some advice from you pepper pros. Here in the UK the weather is generally fairly mild through out the year. Most people recommend hardening off peppers after the last frost. The thing is though here in London there is a fair chance the last frost has been and gone but the weather is still quite cool and changeable.
 
so I wanted to know what you think is good weather for hardening off and if it varies for chinenses, annuums etc.
 
Here is my forecast for the next 10 days, lets just assume it holds true would you harden off your plants on any of these days?
AxxZXe5.jpg

 
 
7c=45f
8c=46f
9c=48f
13c=55f
14c=57f
15c=59f
16c=61f
17c=63f
 
I am no pro but am probably just a stone's throw away from you.
 
My yellow habs and annum (hawks claw) are out and are staying out. They will be stunted but I am not going to sweat over them.
 
I'd start taking them outside. I'd probably even start with night temps anywhere over 5C. Sadly we're not there yet up here in Sweden. 
 
Thanks for the replies.
 
Comptine said:
I'd start taking them outside. I'd probably even start with night temps anywhere over 5C. Sadly we're not there yet up here in Sweden. 
Click to expand...
Do you mean leave them out overnight? I heard flowers drop below 10C or does that not happen when it warms up again?
 
I'm not sure if they drop, I'm not an expert. But those first few flowers generally drop regardless of temperatures, especially for chinenses. And yeah, I'd leave them outside over night. But make sure to harden them off against the sun first, sunburn would be a bigger problem than them getting a bit chilly. I accidentally left some plants out in our conservatory two nights ago, and the temps outside dropped to -2. The plants survived. 
 
Personally I would not leave them outside until night time temps are consistently above 50F.  However, you could begin letting them get some filtered sunlight and wind exposure on the days when it gets into the 60s.  I learned the hard way last year that it is better to wait until things warm up.
 
April 1st or so of last year... just before hardening off and planting "extra early":
IMG_9970.JPG
 
The same plant a few weeks later after planting "extra early"....  Peppers hate the cold/wet conditions of early spring (with some exceptions.)
IMG_0725.JPG
 
Here in the South Eastern US I was having the same thought you are, and I regret putting some of my plants out.  
 
Wait until it is the right time. 
 
I have to agree - wait a bit. I've "rescued" very young chile plants from a hardware store in the past. They were going to be tossed in the trash, as they had taken a cold hit very badly. The stems and leaves were totally limp. I took a few of the best-looking ones, brought them inside the house to warm up, and most perked up in a day or two. I can tell you the others would probably not have made it. As much effort as we put into our grows, better safe than sorry, IMO.
 
Where I'm at, day time temps have soared into the 90s(f) and the same night would drop to 45-48f. I figure there has to be some level of heat retention in the soil and balance. We've been in the mid 50s for around a week now at night. Plants are for sure not as big as I'd like them to be. Inside they started outgrowing the T5 and their solo cups and even in warm 70f inside temps, they never really were big to begin with...third transplant was the final transplant. Sort of like throwing your kids into the deep end of pool and yelling "SWIM!!!!" I think they're all gonna survive, some may just choke a little until the nights heat up a bit.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top