Last year during the hardening process we failed miserably we had so many plants and the process we used did not work. This year Im doing something different but have a question. If you start the process say by giving plants a hour of sun the first day once that's over do they then come back under grow lights to wait for their 2 hours the next day or just sit inside with no light. Does the artificial light interfer with the process? Once hardening starts can they still be given inside light ? Looking for an experienced answer I want to have better results this year ..
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Hardening off question
- Thread starter Spankyscolts
- Start date
I guess so, otherwise they would stay in the dark for 22h ? (it's just a question, I don't know)
I'm hardening 3 of my peppers at the moment, and what I did is that I left them outside 24h/7, but they have sun only from 10:30 till 12:30 (at 100K lux), after they are in the shadow (at 16K lux). It's been nearly a week and these 3 are fine (not like the one I've inside which look terrible ...). Later I will add the sun past 5pm, and later the full sun.
I'm hardening 3 of my peppers at the moment, and what I did is that I left them outside 24h/7, but they have sun only from 10:30 till 12:30 (at 100K lux), after they are in the shadow (at 16K lux). It's been nearly a week and these 3 are fine (not like the one I've inside which look terrible ...). Later I will add the sun past 5pm, and later the full sun.
What lights do you have them under? It's best to use HPS as it mimics the sun the most. Are you hardening in the am? If not you should be, the am light is less intense then pm afternoon light. Hardening is a gradual process. One hour for a few days, then two hours for a few days, and so on. You can also leave em out a bit longer, say an hour if they are covered
T5 HO 6500's. So I was thinking about either increasing an hour each day or 45 mins each day or 1 hour one day then 1/2 hour the next day alternating til I get to 8 hours. I have a tray of Carolina Reapers, Naga Vipers, and young Fatali Gourmet Jigsaws that were just out for one hour, I will use these as guinea pigs tomorrow they will get 2 hours. Meanwhile they will stay out all night and we'll see what happens. So do you bring them back into the inside light ?
It just seems to me that the grow light interferes with the transition but maybe that's just goofy lol
No, it's just the method used to harden them off, as well as. Are the plants the proper size for hardening off? As I mentioned an Hps light is the best to use since it mimics the color and brighntess of the sun the best.
Think of it this way... If grow lights intereferred with the hardening off process, they wouldnt be used near as much.and people would either have to grow indoors or out instead of both
Think of it this way... If grow lights intereferred with the hardening off process, they wouldnt be used near as much.and people would either have to grow indoors or out instead of both
I'm not a specialist of light, but I think the 2 main aspects to consider are these :
- Lumen : a T5 of 60W produce something around 6K lux. The sun provide something around 100K lux (at least that's what I have at my window at the moment when it's a little sunny, but it can be much more). It makes a huge difference.
- PAR (Photosynthetically active radiation) : it's the wavelength of the photons that the plant absorb which are between 400nm (blue) to 700nm (red). For instance my CFL Envirolite is 100% PAR (cover the whole range), but most of the bulb are not. For your T5 I've no idea but I think you will find wavelength chart pretty easily on Google.
- Lumen : a T5 of 60W produce something around 6K lux. The sun provide something around 100K lux (at least that's what I have at my window at the moment when it's a little sunny, but it can be much more). It makes a huge difference.
- PAR (Photosynthetically active radiation) : it's the wavelength of the photons that the plant absorb which are between 400nm (blue) to 700nm (red). For instance my CFL Envirolite is 100% PAR (cover the whole range), but most of the bulb are not. For your T5 I've no idea but I think you will find wavelength chart pretty easily on Google.
millworkman
eXtreme
I believe wayright does this; all plants go out till they wilt then move trampoline over them till they perk back up. Back to sun and continue.
Mine go to my front porch that gets sun from 3-4ish till sun down. A week out there gets them good to go.
Mine go to my front porch that gets sun from 3-4ish till sun down. A week out there gets them good to go.
Me to, i put them on my car port where they get 2-3 hours for a day or two, than keep moving them more than more than evenutally the get moved to my drivway where they get direct sun from aboug 10 to sundown.
Yea Im gonna put mine on the covered porch then move them out into the sun in ever increasing increments then back under cover leaving there 24/7 until good to go. Thanks for all your replays.
I've been a lot less careful than you guys throwing mine in a partially shaded patio where they receive about four hours of sun and then moving them to full sun in a week. So I noticed some bleeching/burn but they appear to be growing and overcoming. It helps that we have had a lot of rain and overcast weather in NC the past two weeks.
So the wilting during the hardening process is normal? My plants range from 3"-8" (different plants and planted different times) and they all wilt after being in the sun (screened patio), I've been letting them sit for an hour and they are completely droopy. But then in the shade and in about an hour or so they are back to normal.
I put half of mine on the north side of a shed and left them. Had a little sun burn but every things good now. I have others under a pine tree on the east side that have been just fine.