Re-hardening

C

crow

So, there was rain here... Non-stop for the last 2 weeks. I have 22 Habaneros i started from seed in february. They are in 10" pots at the moment, as the rain postponed transplanting into larger containers. 
 
2 weeks ago I had to bring them in back under the CFL. I did a mistake of watering with a fertilizer once, and didnt have a wind/air circulation source anymore. They have grown a lot, and the problem is that the plants are now weak. New grown leaves  are a lot of burden for the stem.
 
I have put them outside for 2 hours, and 3 of them have bent for literally 90 deg (almost broken, luckly they didn't). So, should I try to harden them before transplanting for outside, or would a simple support stick do? If i put support, would it make plant a bit weaker? Thanks for the advice
 
Harden them off and stake them. It stands to reason that the plants would no longer produce the "sunscreen" compounds if they no longer needed them after they were brought back inside for that long. I don't believe the stake would make them weaker per se, though your plants may topple over with rain/wind if you do not stake them. My bell peppers almost got snapped in half by a vicious thunderstorm, and after that I staked them to be safe. This will also allow the plants to support more fruit than they otherwise could freestanding.
 
I am going to go with they stretched when they came inside.  I do not like stakes and sticks for small plants cause where ever you attach, it gives the wind a fulcrum to bend and snap.  Figuring no new leaf means the older leaves already have been hardened for sun, I would transplant and use lawn clippings for mulch to support.  Then I would remove the mulch if necessary as time went on.  No clue how tall they are, but the lawn clipping thing has worked for some of my stretchy plants that got to about 8 inches.  Doubt it would work for anything taller than that.
 
I was too impatient with getting them ready to transplant, and I myself thought they were more resistant to the sun.
 
Unfortunately, I was lazy enough to leave them under the direct sun yesterday, which in turn resulted with a sunburn. Some plants have about 20-25% healthy leaves burnt, some have less, but there are about 2-3 with over 50%-60% leaves burnt...
 
Will they recover?  How badly will it affect their growth?
 
I feel so bad for that. Before the rain, they were hardened by a strict schedule - 30 minutes more each day - for 2 weeks, and were at last happy even at the direct sun.  And then, I do this after having them back in for 2 weeks. 
 
They should be fine but do yourselves a favor and leave them alone and do not baby them. :) The leaves that need to drop will so just let them ride...
 
I got to agree. I will let them adapt. On their own. I know peppers are resiliant. Going over-sentimental may do more damage than good :D
 
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