Hey everyone....
I have 3 TSMB, a yellow 7 pot and a douglah I started in January. They have been in 1 gallon pots and are about 12" tall some of which are a bit smaller even. Ive kept them in smaller pots so they are stunted a bit and they've been pretty much ignored as far as feedings go.
Im wanting to transplant into 5 gallon buckets which will be their permanent containers during this growing season season (container garden).
However, my climate is a bit weird. Im in Flagstaff, AZ. Im in arizona so the sun is rather intense during the day even right now ... but Im at 7,000' elevation up in the mountains so the temps are in the mid to high 60's/low 70's with nightime temps in the mid to low 30's dipping into the 20's at times. We are classified as zone 5b but our sun is intense. I got a sunburn this weekend just by being out during the day in 65 degree weather - for example.
The plants have been indoors, under T5's.
I want to start hardening off now but am wondering if I transplant into 5 gallon buckets, then start hardening them off little by little over the next week or two but put them in the garage at night. Will this be too much of a shock? My garage is not insulated so it would be quite a bit colder then what they have been used to inside my spare bedroom under the T5's on a 18/6 light schedule.
Maybe I should transplant them into 5 gallon buckets, stick a T5 in the garage during the day, and let them acclimate to that first for a week or so and let them stretch their roots a bit (as well as bump up their feedings to get them going better)... then start outside hardening off.
Any suggestions? Im going to have to do something like this now because my season is to short otherwise. First frost is usually late October.
I have 3 TSMB, a yellow 7 pot and a douglah I started in January. They have been in 1 gallon pots and are about 12" tall some of which are a bit smaller even. Ive kept them in smaller pots so they are stunted a bit and they've been pretty much ignored as far as feedings go.
Im wanting to transplant into 5 gallon buckets which will be their permanent containers during this growing season season (container garden).
However, my climate is a bit weird. Im in Flagstaff, AZ. Im in arizona so the sun is rather intense during the day even right now ... but Im at 7,000' elevation up in the mountains so the temps are in the mid to high 60's/low 70's with nightime temps in the mid to low 30's dipping into the 20's at times. We are classified as zone 5b but our sun is intense. I got a sunburn this weekend just by being out during the day in 65 degree weather - for example.
The plants have been indoors, under T5's.
I want to start hardening off now but am wondering if I transplant into 5 gallon buckets, then start hardening them off little by little over the next week or two but put them in the garage at night. Will this be too much of a shock? My garage is not insulated so it would be quite a bit colder then what they have been used to inside my spare bedroom under the T5's on a 18/6 light schedule.
Maybe I should transplant them into 5 gallon buckets, stick a T5 in the garage during the day, and let them acclimate to that first for a week or so and let them stretch their roots a bit (as well as bump up their feedings to get them going better)... then start outside hardening off.
Any suggestions? Im going to have to do something like this now because my season is to short otherwise. First frost is usually late October.
