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Hardining off

chillilover

chillilover

I had my plants hardened off last week but took them in for 4 days due to weather. I brought them out again and some wilted. Do I need to harden them off again?
 
Mine wilted too, I'm afraid they're complete gone. Pics coming soon...sigh I didn't realize how important it was to harden them off.
 
Need to Harding Off? Got a Wilting problem? I got just the thing for you!















992556.bin


If you get an erection for more than 24 hours, seek medical attention immediately!

:hell:

In reality, if you can, put a net above your plants to reduce the intensity of sun they receive. This also works great when it hails :)
 
I'm of the opinion that the more artificial light they got when they were young means the more hardening they need before they can go out 24/7. Even natural light through a window helps plants adapt to the outside better. Always start off in shade and see how they react. Even inside a garage with an open door out of direct sunlight will help harden them. Increase the direct sunlight exposure an hour a day. No plants should need more than a week if done slowly and correctly. A little patience in the hardening process will go a long way later.
 
bigt said:
I'm of the opinion that the more artificial light they got when they were young means the more hardening they need before they can go out 24/7.
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Good info. Is this the case for plants that are grown under a 1000 watt MH setup? I have quit a few sprouts that I need to pot up, but when I do I will only have room for half of them in the light and will need to put the rest outside. Since this is my first year growing peppers I have never tried to harden a plant before and not sure if that applies to MH grown peppers as well. Any help and or suggestions are greatly appreciated.
 
bigt said:
I'm of the opinion that the more artificial light they got when they were young means the more hardening they need before they can go out 24/7. Even natural light through a window helps plants adapt to the outside better. Always start off in shade and see how they react. Even inside a garage with an open door out of direct sunlight will help harden them. Increase the direct sunlight exposure an hour a day. No plants should need more than a week if done slowly and correctly. A little patience in the hardening process will go a long way later.
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I disagree. one of my setups is outside, but it's sealed, meaning it doesn't get any light from the outside. the artificial light source inside causes heat, and far-end wavelengths. on top of that there's the fact wind does find its way into the setup. I moved plants from the inside of the setup outside to the open sun (and here the open sun is brutal) and they didn't show any signs of shock, wilting or any other problem. if anything the setup only made them tougher and it's artificial.
 
Omri said:
I disagree. one of my setups is outside, but it's sealed, meaning it doesn't get any light from the outside. the artificial light source inside causes heat, and far-end wavelengths. on top of that there's the fact wind does find its way into the setup. I moved plants from the inside of the setup outside to the open sun (and here the open sun is brutal) and they didn't show any signs of shock, wilting or any other problem. if anything the setup only made them tougher and it's artificial.
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This year, my plants saw no natural light before going outside, and they took by far the longest time to harden. Maybe because they were bigger and more developed inside than they had ever been before - I don't know. What used to be 1 or 2 days to harden before turned into a week. I used only CFL and Floros so I don't know if other lighting might be different. I would like to hear other peoples results.
 
This is the first year for CFL's and it took a week to harden them off correctly, opposed to just a few days when I start my seedlings in a east facing window years past...

I think the main point is to send a scout when in doubt...
 
The easiest way for me to harden off plants is to place them at the back of my front porch which faces east, provides some wind shelter and only recieves full sun until 10:00 AM.

They stay outside from then on and each day they get moved a little more toward the front of the porch which adds more length to their sun exposure.

Eventually, they have been moved off of the porch and get full sun for at least 6 hours before being transplanted to their final place in the sun.

This hardening off process takes around 10 gays to two weeks, depending on the weather, and the plants show little if any transplant shock.
 
I kind of rushed the process and paid a price for it. Lost two plants and almost all of the others got a bit of sunburn. I've got new growth on all of them so I think I got lucky.

This is the second year I've used CFL's and it wasn't near as bad last year. Of course we had spring for more than six days last year. This year we went from high of mid 60's to low 90's in two days. Plants aren't the only thing that have a problem adjusting.
 
I had mine on the window sills and they didn't need much adjustment to go outside. Not much at all. Direct sun no problemo. Heavy winds, however, make me nervous.
 
This year I went from CFL's to a east facing window for a few days then into the hardening station for a week, then placed them in there finial resting place in the sun...

Had some extra's I gave to a buddy to plant in his garden, they were at the stage of three days in a east facing window. I told him to harden them off the rest of the way and then place in his garden. He elected to go straight into the garden, well they lived but were burnt badly and are half the size and look of there brothers in my Garden...

Here's my hardening station, the shade cloth is 60% and panels can be added or subtracted depending the stage of hardening. You can start at 4 panels ( north side dose not need one ) and give the plants 40% of the available light but no direct sun. Then remove the east panel to allow direct morning sun and 40% for the rest of the day. Then remove the west panel to allow direct afternoon sun also, then finally the south panel and your ready for the Garden. I'm going to leave the top panel at least till the hail season is over but might leave it the rest of the year just to give them a break from this mile high sun burn as my beds get full sun. Also protects them from the driving rain/hail/wind but allows great ventilation, not to mention keeping out squirrels, dogs, birds, kids and the such...

cage10.jpg
 
This year, my wife bought me a cheapo greenhouse for 40 bucks from the local grocery store. I used it for hardening off this year and it worked pretty good.

Before that, I would harden plants off in a "nursery" area behind my pool house that was shady but would allow the plants to get a little wind and adjust to the cool evenings.

I always send out a scout or two like someone suggested and leave the main army behind in the hardening off area.

This year, I lost some cucumbers because I failed to harden them off correctly. However, I also learned that the best way to do cukes is to sow directly into the ground...
 
UnNatural said:
LMAO!

Crap! My boss saw me and is walking over probably wondering why i'm cracking up in my office when i should be making phone calls.
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Just tell him you farted. Farts are always funny. :lol:
 
Bob_B said:
This year, I lost some cucumbers because I failed to harden them off correctly. However, I also learned that the best way to do cukes is to sow directly into the ground...
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Yup, cukes, melons, beans, okra, squash, collards, etc....

Peppers and tomatoes are the only plants I start indoors.
 
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