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

Do you harden off your plants??

shayneyasinski

shayneyasinski

The term harden off is when you get your plants ready for outdoors by lowering the temp in your growroom or greenhouse so they don't get shocked when you plant them outdoors.
I have a big greenhouses that is hard to heat so this is a bonus in that they will see just above freezing temps almost everyday.
I have seen alot of people grow indoors then plant them outside and lose half there crop as a result of leggy weak plants that have always had a constant temp.
the pics here that you people have posted have some real good looking plants and I am sure would do just fine no matter what you did .
I also like to keep a fan blowing on some plants as that makes them sway in the wind and will beef up a stem.
 
A quick google gives this explanation of hardening off:

Definition: Hardening off plants is the process, undertaken in spring in the temperate zone, of preparing plants started indoors for the change in environmental conditions they will encounter when permanently moved outdoors. Without allowing plants to harden off, they will be negatively impacted by the sudden shock of exposure to daytime's sunrays and nighttime's coolness. The process of hardening off plants involves a transitional period in which plants are left outside during daylight hours only and in an area where they can be shaded and protected from wind. Having a cold frame facilitates hardening off, but it is not essential that you have a cold frame. Watering is reduced as well during the hardening off period. Gradually, the plant is allowed exposure to an increasing amount of sunlight and allowed to stay out later and later.
 
I will bring plants out of my greenhouse on nice days to get acclimatized to the cool wind whenever that becomes possible.
 
i don't plant out until temps are around 15c and i keep my house about that anyways so i figure they won't be that affected by temperature differences, but they seriously need to adjust to the sunlight. they get all pathetic looking if you just one day dump them outside, but i don't really do it that gradually tho, after a week or a little more i have them out full-time.
 
I found that if you take smaller plants outside suddenly, into bright, direct sunlight, they can wither and die after 10 hours or so!

Mike
 
I've had my plants outside during the day and in on cold nights for over a week now. They don't look so pristine and dark green, they look all shades of green and dirty looking like I dug them up somewhere. But they are going in the 1 gallon plastic containers tomorrow.:onfire:



Hint: Click on the above picture to see a video fly over of my plants!
 
I was going to post something asking about people's processes for hardening off. Out on nice days for 6 hours or so to start sounds right.
 
Hey Cheezy just do it gradually like only a few hours at first. I went too fast and sun bleached some lower leaves. The weather where I live is staying above 55-60 at night over the next week so I got started early.
 
cheezydemon said:
I was going to post something asking about people's processes for hardening off. Out on nice days for 6 hours or so to start sounds right.
Click to expand...

ok, maybe i'm a little more gradual than that...
 
I first put them in direct sun and see how they look in about 30 minutes then in 1 hour. Then I move them into the shade for a while. After that, bring inside and do it again for the next two days at longer intervuls. Then I leave it in the sun for a a day and see how it goes.
 
I harden them off in something called a Flowerhouse Starterhouse. It's basically a pop-up plastic cold frame. Works very well and comes with a shade cover. I use the shade cover for a week or so and then expose the plants more and more to sunlight and wind by opening the window screens. :)

Chris
 
cmpman1974 said:
I harden them off in something called a Flowerhouse Starterhouse. It's basically a pop-up plastic cold frame. Works very well and comes with a shade cover. I use the shade cover for a week or so and then expose the plants more and more to sunlight and wind by opening the window screens. :)
Click to expand...


I keep thinking about getting one of those. Has it held up well? I seen some folks complain about the zippers. This is what I have, and I have been very satisfied with it.

http://www.gardeners.com/Cold Frame...ning_SeasonExtending,37-443RS,default,cp.html
 
I have a different strategy. I bring the plant to fruit in hydro greenhouse with controlled temps and plant it directly in the soil after the last freeze (1st week june latest).

I don't get any transplant shock at all.

This is a tengerine bell on 3rd week of june in dirt......not looking very traumatized.

tang5.jpg
 
I was thinking I would start all peppers under indoor lights next year but after reading what you have to do to get them outdoors I think I will keep using the greenhouse.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top