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Hardening off in poor weather..

Ragnar

Ragnar

So it's quite cloudy here and will be for a few days, then on and off. I started hardening off yesterday with about 2 hours under the clouds. As I've never done this before, is that about right? Can I leave them out a lot longer due to the crappy weather conditions? When it does brighten up should I reduce the time outside by a lot?
 
Thanks for the help in advance.
 
Well, I would usually harden mine off for approx a week.  Due to the crappy weather I just went ahead and planted all my chili plants.  I am sure others may have a different opinion but seems to me the mild weather will acclimate them just fine in my view. 
 
In just a couple days I have had some growth already, If I get good roots established before the heat hits they will all be fine. 
 
were supposed to have junk weather cloudy also for like 5 days. So I put everything that was tall outside...
They wilted a little but then it got chilly out for a while and the firmed up.
 
no full sun in my forecast for like 4 days.. probably the same weather in toronto-ish area lol
 
the clouds seem like they would do the "hardening" for you since they filter the sunlight whilst establishing a baseline of their new environment. 
 
I pretty much agree with what has been said so far.  The only thing that I would worry about would be UV exposure, just putting them out.  Depends on what they have seen so far.
 
Cool, ok I'll just leave 'em out under the porch then during the day and bring them in for a few hours of supplimental light at night until my mix finishes it's liming process. Thanks for the input!
 
Just as a counterpoint, I have given up on hardening off at all and my plants survive.  The leaves usually sunburn and a bunch fall off, but they bounce back quick enough.  I'm not suggesting that you give up hardening off, just saying that it would be hard to screw up too bad if you're trying at all.
 
Disclaimer:  I live rather far north and it is not unheard of to need both shorts and a parka on the same day.  Waiting and tossing the plants out without hardening in the full summer heat is not recommended.
 
Cloudy cooler weather is the ideal time to harden them off outside and in such cases you can practically leave them out without shade the entire day long, with minimal moving them around after a day or two.  Some people, myself included, don't even harden them if there will be a few cooler cloudy days outside, BUT this is after they were growing under fairly bright grow lights inside so the change isn't "as" dramatic... so long as there isn't high wind, it is not a good idea to put young plants without established roots in their larger container, out in strong wind, although staking and tying them to it helps...
 
I put stakes in at time of final transplant, windy or not.  In this area they're going to need them and waiting just means disturbing roots later instead of putting the stake in earlier where there aren't any roots yet.
 
I have about planting and crappy weather. The ground has been SOAKED with rain for what seems like weeks now and Im hesitant to plant since the old wisdom is wet soil (my is VERY clay-ey) will compact. The rain does't look like it'll let up until next week sometime and it is getting very late in the season as is. I was thinking about tarping the ground for a day or so to help prevent more rain soaking. Would putting a tarp keep the water from evaporating under it? General thoughts on planting in wet soil? Very rainy spring here in Ohio.
 
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